Chandigarh, April 12
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday held a huge rally in support of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates in Digboi, Assam. During the public meeting, he appealed to the people to vote for the AAP candidates and elect them as their representatives in the parliament.
He said that there is a very old relationship between Assam and Punjab. Our first Guru Guru Nanak Dev Ji and ninth Guru Guru Teg Bahadur Ji visited Assam. There are Gurudwara Sahibs here.
He said that there are many similarities between the people of Assam and Punjab. We take great pride in civilization and promote our culture. The dance of Assam and Punjab is also very famous. People of both places celebrate their festivals through dance and singing.
He said that both the states have an agriculture based economy. People here cultivate tea. On the other hand, people of Punjab cultivate wheat, rice, sugarcane and cotton. We all are children of Mother Earth. But unfortunately today the children of Mother Earth are dying of hunger because the present government is working for the capitalists instead of the farmers.
During his speech, Mann launched a scathing attack on the BJP government of Assam and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma for the sad state of government schools. He said that Chief Minister Sharma’s wife owns many private schools. That is why government schools are not being improved.
If he wanted, schools and hospitals could have been improved and upgraded 20 years ago because he was the education and health minister in the Congress government. But his intentions were not pure. That is why even today government schools and hospitals are in such poor condition. When the Chief Minister has his own private schools, why will he improve government schools?
Mann said that in 2015, Amit Shah declared Himanta Biswa Sharma as the most corrupt person. But after joining the BJP, today the same person has become innocent for them. The BJP just lies about everything. Their every statement is just a ‘jumla’.
He said that the BJP people think that by putting Arvind Kejriwal in jail, they can finish the Aam Aadmi Party. But they are mistaken. You can arrest Arvind Kejriwal, but how will you arrest his thinking? Arvind Kejriwal is not just a person, he is an idea.
He said that I met a man on the plane today who told him that 8000 government schools in our Assam have been closed due to lack of students in them. The government schools in Delhi and Punjab were in the same exact condition before the AAP government. But instead of closing the schools, we improved and upgraded them, they are made world class, today in Delhi and Punjab, parents are taking out their children from private schools and sending them to government schools.
He said that the condition of labourers in Assam is also terrible. Today the daily wage of a labourer here is Rs 250. Vote for the Aam Aadmi Party, we will increase the daily wage of labourers to Rs 450 and will make a law for this. After forming the government, we have also increased the wages in Punjab. Only Aam Aadmi Party can do this because we understand the pain and suffering of common people.
He said that today electricity is absolutely free in Punjab. 90% of the households in Punjab get zero electricity bills. Aam Aadmi clinics are functioning in Punjab, where all kinds of treatment is free. If given a chance, we will do the same things for Assam as well.
