Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday invoked threats from Pakistan to urge people to vote for the Akali Dal-BJP alliance in Punjab to provide a strong government in the border state.
Modi warned people not to vote for parties who were eyeing to form the government for their vested interests. Speaking in Faridkot, a part of Punjab’s agricultural Malwa belt, he said:
Punjab is a border state. Pakistan always looks for opportunities to destabilise Punjab. If a weak government or a government of outsiders or a government of those indulging in luxuries comes, this will be bad for Punjab and the country.
“We have to ensure that we have a strong government. You have to ensure that you vote properly,” the PM said.
Elections to 117 assembly seats in Punjab take place on February 4 with the main contest being among the Akali Dal-BJP combine, which has been in power in Punjab since 2007, the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Modi warned people in Punjab against being misled by the Congress.
Congress leaders painted all Punjabi Sikh youths as terrorists. Now, it has called all Punjabi youths drug addicts. Save Punjab from people who will drag the state back to the dark days.
In an obvious reference to the Congress and the AAP, Modi lamented the declining standard of language being used during campaigning in Punjab.
"I am pained to hear the words being used for Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal," Modi said. "Very wrong words are being used for him (Badal). This is dictatorial language. Can democracy work like this? If democratic traditions are broken, it will be bad for the country.”
People who have done injustice to Anna Hazare, do you think that they will show regard for Badal?Narendra Modi, Indian Prime Minister
He said that in his political life he had held two leaders, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Parkash Singh Badal, in high regard as they never talked ill of anyone.
"We should learn from these leaders how to conduct oneself in public life. We too have fought the Congress. But we do not say things like we will send so-and-so to jail," he said.
He said the AAP leadership, instead of finding faults with the Election Commission and alleging that the EC was dancing to his (Modi’s) tunes, should focus on its work.
"They (AAP) will lose in Punjab and Goa because of their own actions (karnamas)," Modi said.
Lauding Badal for his public service in the past seven decades, Modi said: "Badal only thinks and talks about Punjab and its people and farmers."
The Prime Minister dwelt on the schemes and policies introduced by his government at the Centre for the benefit of farmers. These include micro-irrigation, crop insurance from natural calamities, and modernising agriculture through technology.
(With inputs from IANS)
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