Chandigarh:- Addressing a press conference at Congress Bhawan on Monday, All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary K.C. Venugopal said that the Congress was the only option for a better future for Punjab. He said Punjab was the only state in the country that had consistently set a good example for other states.
Venugopal said every section of Punjab’s society was suffering today. He claimed that drugs had severely weakened the state and that the Congress could play an important role in overcoming the situation. He said that just as the Congress had freed Punjab from terrorism, it would play a commendable role in freeing the state from drugs.
Venugopal also said that over the past 13 years, the BJP had failed to stop the drug trade spreading in Punjab. However, as elections approached, the BJP had suddenly remembered the need to eliminate drugs from the state. Punjab is a border state where the Border Security Force (BSF) is deployed. Despite the BJP being given control over an area extending 50 kilometres from the border, he alleged, it had failed to curb the drug trade in Punjab and was now announcing new timelines with promises to make the state drug-free.
Venugopal claimed that the Congress would come to power in the forthcoming Punjab Assembly elections and take the state to new heights of development. During his visit to Punjab, he held important meetings on preparations for the Assembly elections and Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the state on November 4. Sangrur district, considered the stronghold of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has been selected for Rahul Gandhi’s rally.
He said the Congress would sound its election bugle from there. He added that the party would contest the elections on the issues of drug abuse and the deteriorating law-and-order situation in Punjab. The Congress would promise to make Punjab completely free from drugs and gangsterism.
Punjab Congress Is Fully United: Pilot
Punjab Congress General Secretary Sachin Pilot said the state Congress was completely united. Citing an example of this unity, Pilot said he had received an invitation for lunch from Partap Singh Bajwa, Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly. Pilot himself was driving the car of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Pargat Singh. Congress Organisation General Secretary K.C. Venugopal, former Chief Minister and MP Charanjit Singh Channi, Punjab Congress president Pargat Singh, and former Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring were also in the car. He said there could be no greater example of Congress unity.
