Punjab Congress to form youth brigade to take on Akalis
CHANDIGARH: Punjab Pardesh Congress Committee(PPCC) president Rajinder Kaur Bhattal on Tuesday refuted the claims of land slide victory in civic elections made by ruling SAD-BJP alliance and claimed that Congress has gained its lost ground in Doaba and Majha regions of state.

Addressing newsmen, Bhattal said that Congress party has captured about half of the Municipal Councils in Majha and Doaba and its performance is at par with SAD deducting the seats obtained by its ally BJP. She said that in Doaba and Majha Congress party had won only 7 out of 57 seats but MC election results have reversed the trend. She said that in Malwa SAD has indulged in large scale rigging, booth capturing and violence to win the seats. She also alleged that SAD had created atmosphere of fear and members of a particular sect (dera Sacha Sauda) didn't turn out to vote.

Bhattal said that her party men braved an onslaught by Akalis and fought to save the democracy. She said that police was working as private army of ruling alliance. "We tried to get help from Election Commission, Human Rights commission and Judiciary to get justice and got some support". She however said that Akalis didn't understand the democratic language. She announced to form a youth brigade to counter the Student Organisation of India(SOI) a student wing of SAD which played major role in poll rigging during Panchayat and MC elections. She said that during MC elections, her son Rahul Singh had experimented with Naujawan Sangharsh Sabha in Sangrur district and no 'rigging' by Akalis was allowed.

Bhattal blamed former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh (without naming him directly) for starting politics of vendetta in Punjab. She said," Who doesn't know who started all this nonsense and now party workers were facing the bitter taste of it".  She said that she didn't want to indulge in blame game because infighting in party leadership demoralize the workers. She said that certain leaders were spoiling the party due to personal rivalries. She was hinting at reported statement of Captain Amarinder Singh in which he had blamed Bhattal for poor performance of Congress in MC elections.

Bir Devinder Singh, Chief Spokesman of PPCC, sitting along Bhattal qualified the reply by Bhattal and alleged that Captain Amarinder Singh had no right to speak since he himself was an absconder of party. He said that Amarinder Singh and his MP wife had boycotted the Patiala Municipal Corporation elections in April and since then they were never seen working for the party. He said that both husband wife were not available for campaigning for the party and protecting the party workers who were beaten up by Akalis and police in Rajpura, Samana and Nabha in Patiala district.

Bir devinder Singh described Amarinder Singh, a 'paper tiger' and alleged that he was responsible for demoralizing the party workers. He failed to participate in state level dharna in Patiala against rigging in Patiala Corporation elections. He also didn't utter a single word against SAD-BJP highhandedness in the MC elections.

Replying to questions, Bhattal said that Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was always begging from center and also blaming center for state’s problems. She said that Badal was writing letters to Prime Minister on loan waiver of farmers to get political mileage. She asked him to explain what financial package he had brought for Punjab farmers when NDA was ruling the state?

Bhattal refused to comment on registration of another corruption case by Vigilance department against Captain Amarinder Singh. She said that this was not on her agenda for today.