A week before Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is to jumpstart the Aam Aadmi Party’s campaign for the Assembly polls in Punjab by holding a rally at Muktasar, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Capt. Amarinder Singh said the real fight was between him and Mr. Kejriwal.
In an interview to The Hindu , Mr. Singh said the frustration among the youth had made the State desperate in its search for an alternative.
“The AAP is a phenomenon that I didn’t expect to do well in the general election, but I think it was a case of total frustration in the younger element. The youth of the State are looking for work, that is not available as Punjab has been mismanaged for so many years. Industry has left Punjab. Economy has collapsed. India is looking at 7.4 per cent growth, we are at 5.7 per cent, agriculture gives you 1 per cent. I brought in the service sector, I brought in companies like Quark, Dell, Infosys, and these chaps [the Akalis] closed them down. We had three per cent growth there from this sector; [now] it’s gone. As for the secondary sector, the other day I was driving past Govindgarh. There was only one factory that had smoke coming out of its chimney, and there are hundreds of chimneys there, so your steel industry is gone. There are no jobs. People out of sheer frustration say we’ve seen the Akalis, we’ve seen the Congress, let’s give these guys a chance,” he said.
He added that it was this feeling this was a feeling that the party had to beat to win the Assembly polls, due in early 2017. “I’m trying to say that these people don’t have a face or programme. We have had 10 years of bad governance, and we may not recover if another bad government is elected,” he warned.
“The Akalis are totally out of the race. It’s between us and the AAP. Therefore, we are also looking at alliances, with Manpreet Badal, the BSP and the Left. In 2007, we lost the polls by 1 per cent, in 2012 by 0.8 per cent, in that election, 39 seats were given wrong so we must aggregate votes and close the gap,” he said.
He said that the Congress would beat the AAP because the latter had no face or programme to offer.
“Just look at what the Chief Minister [Mr. Kejriwal] is doing in Delhi; whenever he can’t solve a problem, he blames the government or [Finance Minister Arun] Jaitley or [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi. In 60 years I’m yet to meet a Chief Minister who blames others for his own inability to work,” he said. “Sheila Dikshit, when she was Chief Minister, achieved so much without once blaming the Centre,” he said. “It’s been a year since his government came to power, has he given 7,500 litres of free water or electricity,” he asked.
The former Punjab Chief Minister said the Centre’s handling of the combing operations in the Pathankot airbase was a bungle, an attempt by civilian authorities to steer counter-insurgency efforts through a force, the NSG, that was not equipped for the job. “This was a Lt. Colonel’s job, or maximum a company commandant, what was the need for these chaps from Manesar to fly in for a job that the Army is trained for,” he asked. But he said the dialogue with Pakistan must continue. “There is a vested interest in keeping the two countries away, and we must not play into that.”
The full transcript of the interview:
Q. How do you view the Pathankot attacks having been chief minister of the state and a former army man?
A. It is very clear that the National Security Guard (NSG) seems to be the blue eyed boy of the civil administration, because everything else in terms of combat is controlled by the Army. The NSG’s task, however, is completely different, they are basically for hijack situations, chaps holed up in hotels or houses, and not for field counter insurgency. That is a task for the military. You have 50,000 troops sitting in Pathankot, the 39 division, that has 12 infantry battalions who have been in the Kashmir Valley doing just these kind of operations. Why do you need chaps from Manesar to go all the way to Pathankot?
Q. Normally what should have happened?
A. They (Central government) are underplaying the role of the Punjab police, whether the SP Salwinder Singh is a crook or not, the NIA has to decide, but as far as the intelligence is concerned, that went well in advance from Punjab police and based on that, the alert was sounded. That is the thing that Punjab police deserved credit for.
The moment that happened, the army would have deployed people through Quick Reaction Teams, and then the battalion would have dealt with it. In this case there is an overlapping command, the NSA giving orders to some general, some general giving orders to someone else, in between some air marshal sitting in on all this. What is this nonsense going on? This is a Lt Colonel’s job.
Q. Do you think that there is an overlapping of drug routes and how these terrorists came in?
A. Drug routes are a problem, I had suggested when I was Chief Minister of Punjab (2002-2007) that there should be an annual turn over of BSF battalions posted there, normally they stay on for two years. The government of India had shot it down saying that it’s too expensive, such quick turnovers. There is big money in drugs, and I felt that a nexus develops in two years. The drug routes are porous and could be a way in which infiltrators crossed over.
Q. How serious is the threat from Aam Aadmi Party? They have been poaching Congressmen for some time now.
A. This is only the beginning of poaching from us as we have more than three to four contenders for each Assembly seat. Khairon left us, he lost three times. In Congress there is a rule that if you lose three times, you cannot be considered for a seat. Col C D Singh left us, he had lost twice. Day after tomorrow a boy from Sunam, Aman Arora who also lost previous polls will be joining them. I hear that there is resentment in AAP over all these newcomers being promised tickets rather than their own people.
Q. Do you think that AAP is a political rival to you?
A. AAP is a phenomenon that I didn’t expect would do well in the General Elections, but I think it was a case of total frustration in the younger element. The youth of the state are looking for work, that is not available, as Punjab has been mismanaged for so many years. Industry has left Punjab. Economy has collapsed. India is looking at 7.4% growth, we are at 5.7%, agriculture gives u 1%, I brought in the service sector, I brought in Quark, Dell, Inforys, and these chaps (Akalis) closed them down. We had three per cent growth because of that and now its gone. Your secondary sector, steel industry for instance is also limping. The other day I was driving past Govindgarh, there was only factory that had smoke coming out its chimney, and there are hundreds of chimneys there, so you steel industry is gone. So there are no jobs. People out of sheer frustration say “hamne akaliyon ko dekh liya, Congress ko dekh liya, lets give these guys a chance.”
Where we can beat then is the fact that these people don’t have a face or programme. I’m afraid that we have had 10 years of bad governance, and we may not recover if another bad government is elected.
Q. Are you looking at a Bihar like Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance ?
A. We are open to alliances with secular forces. In that we count Manpreet Badal, the BSP, and the Left. When we go into why we lost previous elections we found that in 2007 we lost by a difference of 1% in voting percentages, and by 0.8% in 2012. In 2012, there were 39 seats that were given wrong. I calculate that the Akalis are totally out of the race because after Bargadi fingers are being pointed at them. Our fight is with the AAP, and we are one up on them. An alliance will help up in consolidation.
Q. What do you think of Mr Kejriwal?
A. The party has no programme for the state nor face, and he thinks that any time he can’t solve a problem he will blame the government, (Arun) Jaitley or (Prime Minister) Modi. In 60 years I have yet to meet a chief minister who blames others so much for his own inability to do work. Look at Sheila Dikshit, she was in Delhi and she did so much. What has he achieved in out of his manifesto in one year of government, did he manage to get 7500 litres of water, or free bijli (electricity)?
