Express News Service
CHANDIGARH: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said Punjab’s biggest issue is its security as it shares border with Pakistan. To empower such hands which will ensure and strengthen the security of the state and the country, he said while addressing a rally in Patiala.
The Home Minister further said only an NDA government, which will work closely with the Centre, can ensure peace, harmony, and security here.
Shah praised former CM Capt Amarinder Singh who was sharing the dais with him. Singh always rose above partisan considerations when it came to the issues concerning national security, Shah said, adding that when he became the Home Minister in 2019, he felt quite concerned about the security along the Punjab border. “But once I spoke to Capt Amarinder, I felt relaxed.”
The minister said the way the Congress treated a senior leader like Capt Amarinder, it (Congress) must not get a single seat from Patiala.
Shah referred to the problem of drugs prevailing in Punjab. Give Narendra Modi a chance and drugs will be completely wiped out of Punjab. If the NDA government is formed, then Narcotic Control Cell will be formed in every district, he added.
“Our government will open full-time branches of Narcotics Bureau in Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Patiala, will make Punjab drug-free in a year. Neither Akalis nor Congress or Kejriwal can make Punjab drug-free.”
He took a dig at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying he had the audacity to claim to finish drugs from Punjab when he had drowned Delhi in liquor by opening liquor shops everywhere.
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Shah also questioned Kejriwal’s intentions towards Punjab and Sikhs. Kejriwal was coming to Punjab seeking votes of Punjabis and Sikhs. But, he has been in government in Delhi for about eight years now and he has not appointed a single Sikh as a minister in his government. The contribution of Sikhs towards Delhi’s history and development is immense and Kejriwal never acknowledged that he said.
The NDA government has a clear roadmap for the rejuvenation of industry and agriculture in the state. Punjab had occupied the topmost place among the states till the seventies as it did exceptionally well in agriculture and industry. The state needs to reclaim that pride and the NDA government here will ensure it in coordination with the central government, the Home Minister further said.
Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is fond of Punjab and Sikhs and had taken several special measures such as punishing the culprits of anti-Sikh riots, opening of the Kartarpur Corridor, naming December 26 as Veer Baal Diwas in memory of younger Sahibzadas, and removing 312 of the 314 names from the ‘black-list’.
Earlier addressing a rally in Ludhiana, Shah said, “Channi is dreaming of forming a Congress government in Punjab again. A CM who cannot provide a secure route to the prime minister of India, can he provide security to Punjab?”
Besides, when the Taliban took over Afghanistan, there was an apprehension that the holy Guru Granth Sahib would not be safe in the Gurdwaras in that country and made a special arrangement to relocate these holy books to Gurdwaras in Delhi with respect and sanctity.
Earlier, addressing the rally, Capt Amarinder Singh praised Amit Shah and the BJP government at the Centre saying that he had always got full support and cooperation from him and other ministers whenever he needed. He specially mentioned that during the Covid pandemic when the state fell short of vaccines, the central government took no time in providing them.
Speaking on the occasion, Shiromani Akali Dal-Sanyukt chief Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa said Punjab needed a government that will work with the Centre as Punjab was faced with serious challenges like debt and declining agriculture incomes.
