Reacting to the shooting incidents during the zila parishad and block samiti elections, state Congress president Pratap Singh Bajwa on Sunday accused rival counterpart Sukhbir Singh Badal of promoting "gun culture" in Punjab.
Bajwa said the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president, deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, perhaps believed in the ideology of Chinese leader Mao Tse Tung that: "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." "Sukhbir is creating an atmosphere of fear and fright, a calculated step towards making Punjab another Bihar and Uttar Pradesh," said Bajwa.
Frustration was all-time high in the SAD-BJP combine, said Bajwa, saying it was evident from the opponent's moves such as capturing polling booths, using weapons against the Congress and PPP candidates and supporters, and intimidating the voters.
Bajwa was in Ludhiana to check upon Rajwinder Singh Raju, who was injured in indiscriminate firing at the election rally of his father, a Congress candidate, at Rampura Phul near Bathinda. Raju is under treatment at Hero DMC Heart Institute.
Holding the SAD responsible for violence in the panchayat elections, Bajwa said the Badals didn't have the confidence to garner public support through good work. "They have experimented with gun culture in the panchayat polls, which they will use in parliamentary elections. The Congress will not allow them to get away with organised crime to throttle democracy," he added.
{{/usCountry}}Holding the SAD responsible for violence in the panchayat elections, Bajwa said the Badals didn't have the confidence to garner public support through good work. "They have experimented with gun culture in the panchayat polls, which they will use in parliamentary elections. The Congress will not allow them to get away with organised crime to throttle democracy," he added.
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