Pathankot, May 11:Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday called senior Congress leader Sunil Jakhar the “future CM of Punjab”.
Captain Amarinder Singh was addressing a rally at Sarna village in support of Congress party’s Gurdaspur candidate Jakhar when he suddenly announced he had something important to say. He then looked toward Jakhar, who was sitting to his right, and said suddenly: “One day Sunil Jakhar will be CM of Punjab”.When Jakhar, apparently taken aback at the suddenness of the statement, said, “No sir, I am happy where I am”, Amarinder repeated himself, saying: “You should know you will be the CM one day”.
The statement could come as a massive boost for Jakhar, who currently faces stiff competition in Gurdaspur from Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate, actor-politician Sunny Deol.Meanwhile, Amarinder Singh travelled from Amritsar to Pathankot by road after he was refused permission to land at the Pathankot air base—a development that he accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of engineering by “indulging in petty politicking”.
Three cabinet ministers, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Aruna Chaudhury—all from Gurdaspur constituency—attended the rally.
‘Debt-ridden former actor’
The chief minister referred to Jakhar’s opponent Deol as the “debt-ridden former actor” who was pressured into contesting the general elections by threatening “income tax raids” on him.
Launching an offensive against Deol, Captain said the actor-turned-politician did not have any stakes here and he will “run away” to Mumbai after the Lok Sabha election.
Calling upon electorates to vote for Congress nominee Sunil Jakhar for development of this border constituency, the chief minister, claiming Deol knew little about the issues in the region.
“He (Deol) came here (to contest polls) because the BJP must have pressurised him. I had read in newspapers that he owed several crore of rupees to banks,” he said.
“They (BJP) must have put pressure on him saying: ‘Either become our candidate or else we will get income tax raids on you’, which the BJP usually does (against political opponents). Then he agreed to become the candidate from here,” Captain Amarinder claimed.
Taking a swipe at Deol, the chief minister asked him to read newspapers or watch television channels to know what is happening in the country.
“I was watching a TV channel few days back and a TV anchor asked him (Deol) what do you have to say about the Balakot air strike? He said what is it? When you do not know what is happening in our country then why do you want to enter politics?” he asked Deol.
The chief minister pointed out that his father and actor Dharmendra belongs to a village in Ludhiana. “Your village is not here,” he said.
Taking a jibe at Deol, Amarinder said he does not even know Punjabi.
“I expect you (voters) to say him goodbye. You may get your pictures clicked with that actor,” he told people.
In contrast, he said Jakhar was farsighted.
“Sunil has spent his entire life serving people and only such persons do work for public.”
Earlier, Jakhar also took a dig at Deol, saying while he may be adept at singing and dancing around and pulling hand pumps out of the soil, he does not know anything about Gurdaspur or the problems of its people.
Jakhar said just as does not know how to sing and dance, Deol has no idea about politics or being an effective representative of the people.
‘Divider in Chief’
Captain Amarinder Singh took a dig at Narendra Modi over Time magazine describing the Prime Minister as “India’s Divider in Chief” for his brazen attempts to divide India on the basis of caste and religion to further his political ambitions.
The chief minister compared Modi’s “poor international reputation” with the “respect” that leaders like Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and even Atal Bihari Vajpayee had earned for the nation at global forums such as the UN.
The magazine showed what the international community thought of Modi, who had lowered India’s prestige in the global arena, he added.
Modi, the chief minister said, had hit an all-time low with his speeches, which was a first for the country. The fight today is for saving the country, he said.
The Gurdaspur constituency, which has 14,68,972 voters, has a high number of serving and retired defence personnel and the BJP is trying to woo them by using the ‘fauji’ image of Deol.
Punjab will vote for its 13 seats on May 19. With agencies
