The Congress party suffered a big jolt today with former
MLA and Punjab Water Resources Management and Development Board Chairman Jagbir
Singh Brar joining the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in the presence of party
President Sukhbir Singh Badal.
Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal welcomed Mr Jagbir Brar into the party fold and announced he would be the party candidate from Jalandhar Cantonment seat. He also announced that Mr Brar had been appointed general secretary of the SAD.
This is a major setback to the Congress party after Navjot Sidhu was appointed Punjab Congress President.
Earlier addressing newsmen, Mr. Badal said people were fed up from misrule of the Congress party as it had not fulfilled a single promise made to the people. He said Capt. Amarinder Singh took a false oath on the Gutka Sahib to befool Punjabis on the eve of the 2017 elections and made tall promises including ghar ghar naukri and complete loan waiver for farmers besides others.
Lashing out at AAP Convener and Delhi Chief Minister Mr. Arvind Kejriwal, Mr. Badal said that he was also trying to mislead people with big announcements even though he had failed to deliver on any of the promises made to the people of Delhi. He said in Delhi major services including Police and others are under Central Government and still the AAP government has failed to deliver. He said Kejriwal was spending as much as Rs. 600 crore for self publicity and continued to mislead people. “Even if Kejriwal makes a single Mohalla clinic he propagates it as if he has come out with a service covering the entire State”.
Coming down heavily on Navjot Sidhu for indulging in cheap theatrics, Mr. Badal said Punjab needed a serious leadership to uplift the State and not theatrical tamashas like that being done by Sidhu as well as AAP State Convener Bhagwant Mann. He also announced the appointment of former senior deputy Mayor Kamaljit Singh Bhatia as Vice President of the party.
Speaking on the occasion, senior party leader Bikram Singh Majithia said Jagbir Brar had always worked for the welfare of the people as well as development of his area and his homecoming would benefit the SAD not only in Jalandhar Cantonment but in the entire State.
Mr Majithia said the Congress was a divided house in Punjab with one group led by Navjot Sidhu and another by Capt. Amarinder Singh. He said Sidhu had even surpassed Mithun Chakarborty in entertaining people. “With his theatrics he may be able to do cheap comedy but he cannot mislead people with his false claims. People are already making a mockery of him on social media for claiming he will provide power at Rs. 3 per unit once the Congress forms a government again in the State. “Which party’s government is in power in the State now? Why doesn’t he ensure power at the rate of Rs 3 per unit now ?”, he asked.
Speaking on the occasion Jagbir Singh Brar disclosed that he was offered plum posts to prevent him from joining the SAD but he had refused everything as he was convinced the SAD alone was committed to pursuing a pro- poor agenda and taking all sections of society with it towards the path of progress. He also disclosed that all welfare schemes including the Atta Dal scheme and Shagun scheme as well as free power for agriculture sector had been started by SAD led governments headed by S. Parkash Singh Badal.
Also Read: ‘Eyeing Jalandhar Cantt seat’, former MLA Jagbir Brar quits Congress, joins SAD
He also shared that ever since he was a child he used to hear how Mr Parkash Singh Badal used to go out of the way to help the poor and repressed sections of society. He also lashed out at Congress leader Pargat Singh and said Pargat had started criticising Capt. Amarinder Singh after enjoying the fruits of power for four and a half years. “Pargat did the same during the erstwhile SAD led government. Like earlier, even this time he has done nothing for the people”, Mr Jagbir Brar added.
Other senior leaders present on the occasion included Pawan Teenu, Gurpartap Singh Wadala and Baldev Singh Khaira all MLAs, Kulwant Singh Manan, Bibi Gurdev Kaur Sangha, Olympian Rajbir Kaur & BSP State General Secretary Balwinder Singh.