Chandigarh, July 3
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) laid siege to Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s Siswan farmhouse on Saturday to convey the voice of the people, farmers, businessmen and students in Punjab to the ears of deaf and ignorant Captain. Led by AAP’s state president and Lok Sabha member Bhagwant Mann, thousands of party workers and office bearers from across Punjab participated in the gherao of Captain’s farmhouse. Addressing the massive protest rally held by the Aam Aadmi Party, Bhagwant Mann said, “We have come to express the grief of 2.75 crore people of Punjab to Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who is sleeping in palaces and visited Punjab only six times since he became the CM.” He said that the people of Punjab were buying the most expensive electricity in the country at Rs 10 per unit; but people were still not getting electricity.
“Instead, they have to leave their homes in the scorching heat and paddy sowing in the fields and hold dharnas on the roads,” said Mann. He said that Captain Amarinder Singh as the Chief Minister should go to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to resolve the issues of the farmers and get all the three black laws against farmers repealed. Mann said that the people of Punjab were suffering the consequences of the collusion between the Akalis and the Congress, because during the Akali rule, the Badal family had entered into deadly deals with the private power companies and now the Congress government has implemented these deals. He said that the IAS officer who had signed anti-Punjab agreements during the Badal government was today the Chief Adviser to Captain.
Taking a dig at the Akali Dal Badal, Bhagwant Mann said that Sukhbir Singh Badal was pretending to raid the sand quarries whereas in Punjab all sorts of mafias including sand mafia were created by the Badals. “No one allows the Akalis to enter the villages today, so they will now enter the quarries,” he said. Mann further said that the Aam Aadmi Party’s National Convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced to provide 300 units of electricity per month free of cost on the formation of AAP government in Punjab; that is why the leaders of all other parties were grudging. “But Kejriwal has not only promised but also guaranteed because he has done it all in Delhi,” asserted Mann, adding that the gherao of Captain’s farmhouse in a huge gathering proves that people want to get rid of all the big electricity bills.
AAP’s senior leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Punjab Assembly, Harpal Singh Cheema said that due to the deadly power pacts, the state exchequer was being looted by the private power companies and the Congress and the Akalis had recovered a share from this looting. He alleged that Captain Amarinder Singh had neither fulfilled his election promises nor ended the mafia rule. “Even today the people of Punjab are suffering due to expensive sand, gravel, electricity, petrol and diesel,” he added. On the occasion, Deputy Leader of Opposition Saravjit Kaur Manuke, MLAs Principal Budhram, Prof Baljinder Kaur, Meet Hayer, Kulwant Singh Pandori, Rupinder Kaur Ruby, Master Baldev Singh, Manjit Singh Bilaspur, party’s state general secretary Harchand Singh Barsat, secretary Gagandeep Singh Chadha, treasurer Neena Mittal, senior leader Manwinder Singh Giaspura, among other party leaders and office bearers were present. Later, the AAP workers who were going to besiege the Chief Minister’s farmhouse were cane-charged by the police, with use of water cannons on them. However, huge demonstrations broke through the police barricades. Eventually, the police detained Bhagwant Mann, Harpal Singh Cheema along with several workers and office bearers; who were sent to different police stations.
