Rahul Gandhi's rally in Punjab will serve as platform for state's rights, says Congress chief

Chandigarh: Punjab Congress President Pargat Singh said on Thursday that the 'Insaaf Rally' in Sangrur on November 4 to be addressed by Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, would serve as a decisive platform in the fight for state's rights, justice and future.

The rally is expected to see more than one lakh people from across Punjab.

He added that over the past four-and-a-half years, the state government had remained silent on issues affecting farmers, young people and ordinary citizens, despite being accountable to the public.

The Congress, Pargat Singh said, would now forcefully raise questions concerning law and order, drugs, unemployment, paddy procurement, sacrilege cases and Punjab's rights.

Launching a sharp attack on the Bhagwant Mann government, the State Congress President said the situation in the state was becoming increasingly worrying.

He alleged that the state government had failed to resolve people's problems and that, instead of listening to public concerns, its handling of the system was steadily eroding the confidence of ordinary citizens.

He said he had already warned in the Punjab Assembly that the Aam Aadmi Party government was turning Punjab into a 'police state'.

Today, he alleged, the morale of the police and civil administration was low, while public confidence in the police was weakening.

Pargat Singh added that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had weakened the natural functioning of democratic institutions at the national level, while the Aam Aadmi Party was doing the same in Punjab.

On paddy procurement, the State Congress Chief said that farmers were struggling to sell their crops, but the state government had failed to offer any concrete solution.

Raising questions about paddy prices and the fair remuneration farmers receive, Pargat Singh asked why Punjab's farmers were not being assured fair prices and timely procurement when better prices were being discussed in other states.

Farmers, he added, needed more than assurances: they needed smooth procurement in mandis and the full value of their hard work.

The Punjab government's silence, he said, was worsening their difficulties.

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