Punjab Congress president Pargat Singh on Tuesday announced that the party will launch its ‘Punjab Mangda Insaaf’ campaign on November 11 to connect directly with people, understand their expectations and raise issues concerning different sections of society.
The campaign will include outreach programmes across Punjab, with senior Congress leaders engaging with farmers, workers, traders, employees, youth, women and representatives of sectors such as information technology and industry.
Speaking to reporters in Chandigarh, Singh said the campaign had begun with the ‘Insaaf Rally’ in Sangrur on November 4 and would now be expanded across the state. Special outreach programmes will be organised in the Malwa, Majha and Doaba regions.
Five to six senior Congress leaders will lead the campaign in different regions and take the party’s message to every household, the Jalandhar Cantonment MLA said. Campaign Committee chairman Charanjit Singh Channi will also visit different Assembly constituencies through the ‘Jawani Sambhal, Jatta’ cycle rally.
Responding to a question about the Congress’s first list of candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections, Singh said the party was conducting surveys and holding meetings at various levels. Efforts were being made to release the list as soon as possible, he added.
Singh said Punjab was grappling with drugs, gangsterism, deteriorating law and order and conditions resembling a “police state”. He also alleged that bureaucratic mismanagement was creating difficulties for ordinary people and the youth.
Students who appeared for the Punjab Civil Services examination had met him and raised concerns about alleged irregularities and mismanagement in the examination process, Singh said. “The Congress will raise all these issues as part of a comprehensive campaign and hold the government accountable,” he was quoted as saying by PTI.
Criticising the Aam Aadmi Party government, Singh alleged that the law-and-order situation had “worsened” under its rule. Describing AAP as the BJP’s “B-team”, he said the party had sought two years to eliminate the drug menace, but the situation remained alarming.
The Punjab Congress chief further alleged that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann did not have actual control over the government and that Punjab was being run by AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia. He said the Congress would reach out to poor people, the youth and other citizens and bring their concerns into mainstream political discourse.
On the party’s election manifesto, Singh said he was working with manifesto committee chairman and MP Dr Amar Singh to seek feedback from different sections of society. Opinions from experts in various fields would also be considered.
“The most useful suggestions received from the public and experts, keeping public interest in mind, would become part of the manifesto,” he said. The objective was to prepare a practical and people-centric roadmap for Punjab’s future and prosperity, he added.
Singh also targeted the state government over paddy procurement, claiming that farmers were facing severe difficulties in mandis. According to him, about 20 to 25 per cent of the paddy was still lying in mandis without being procured.
He said Mann had promised that every grain reaching the mandis would be purchased by the government, but alleged that the promise had become a joke. Farmers continued to face uncertainty over crop procurement and timely payments, he added.
Singh said the Congress wanted to promote harmony and positive politics in Punjab. He said the ‘Punjab Mangda Insaaf’ campaign would not be limited to one group and would represent farmers, labourers, traders, employees, youth, women and all other sections of society.
MLA Rana Gurjit Singh, MPs Gurjeet Singh Aujla and Dr Dharamvira Gandhi, MLA Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, former MLA Sukhwinder Singh Danny and other senior Congress leaders were present at the event.
Through the statewide campaign, the Congress plans to gather public feedback, highlight concerns including law and order, drugs, administration and paddy procurement, and use suggestions from citizens and experts while preparing its election manifesto.
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