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.
"In light of rumours that the Mumbai Airport HQ will be moving to Ahmedabad, we unambiguously state that MIAL and NMIAL airports will remain headquarters in Mumbai," the Adani Group said in a statement.
Even as the farmers continue their protest at the borders of Delhi against the three Central farm laws, the government has reiterated its stand that it is "always open to discussion with farmers' unions and will remain open to discussion with the agitating farmers to resolve the issue".
Upping the ante against the Modi government over the Pegasus phone tapping issue, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Tuesday said that the alleged snooping on the phones of Chief Ministers, politicians, judges and people violates multiple laws of the country and is a threat to national security.
Claiming that Amnesty International is directly involved in the Pegasus "international conspiracy" to malign the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday demanded that the Central government ban the activities of the organisation in India.
Toughening his stance, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday clarified that he won't meet new state party chief Navjot Singh Sidhu till he publicly apologises to him.
