Pathankot, Dec 3 (IANS) Slamming Amarinder Singh for his "myopic" mindset towards the poor, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said on Friday that the former CM targeted him because he had raised issues of the common man.
Addressing a public gathering at Bhoa near here, the Chief Minister said that as he "comes from a family with humble background, he always impressed upon the former Chief Minister to safeguard the interests of the common man".
However, he said, instead of resolving the issues and give reprieve to the poor and the downtrodden, the 'Maharaja' -- as Amarinder Singh, the scion of the erstwhile Patiala Royal family, is called -- started victimising him.
Channi said that even then he continued his struggle for the underprivileged masses.
The Chief Minister said that only the Congress can take a revolutionary decision to oust a 'Maharaja' and bestow responsibility of the Chief Minister to a common man.
However, he said this revolution can sustain only if all the common and needy people stand united to support the Congress. Channi categorically said that the powerful elite class is conniving to destabilise this common man's government by dividing the poor on sectarian lines.
Lashing out at the Akalis, the BJP and Amarinder Singh, the Chief Minister said they are partners in crime against the people of Punjab. He said the trio had connived to pass anti-farm laws for jeopardising the interests of the state.
Channi said the Akalis are the mother of the anti-farm laws, as they had passed the Bill on contract farming in the Punjab Assembly in 2013, which later became the basis of the 'draconian' farm laws, adding that they were hand-in-glove with the BJP to pass these black laws in the Parliament.
Slamming Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal for his 'little knowledge' about the state, Channi said the Delhi Chief Minister is groping in the dark for fulfilling his lust for power.
He said besides being an outsider, Kejriwal is also a rumour-monger who knows nothing about the state but pokes his nose in every matter.
Such cheap politics will never be successful in the state, he added.
The Chief Minister also said that Kejriwal is a 'power hungry outsider', who desires to rule Punjab due to which he is trying to mislead the Punjabis.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has ordered Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) to cancel or revisit all the "one-sided" pacts with private companies that are not contractually obligated to supply sufficient power to meet the state's peak demand during the paddy sowing and summer season.
The new leadership team, led by state chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, had called on the Chief Minister and submitted a letter listing out some issues as needing urgent settlement.
The bodies of Khare Besra, 75 and his wife Curki Devi, 70, were recovered from Baragarda jungle of Giridih. The old couple, residents of Kumharlalo panchayat, had gone into the jungle on Saturday but had not returned and other villagers had filed a missing report with police.
Chairing a high-level meeting to review the demands of the striking employees, he expressed concern over their continued agitation, which has severely impacted the functioning of various state government departments.
The opposition has been continuously attacking the government after it told the Parliament on July 20 that states have not reported any death due to oxygen during the second wave.
