Family mafia vs Punjab lovers, Sidhu taunts Amarinder, Badals on poll day

On election day in Punjab, Congress leader Navjot Sidhu and former CM Amarinder Singh traded charges, with Sidhu saying the polls were a fight between those who want to change Punjab and the ‘family mafias’, while Amarinder said the Congress will be wiped out after the hustings.

“People will vote in large numbers to bring change,” Sidhu, who is contesting Amritsar East, was quoted as saying by ANI.

He said that on one side, there are the “mafias” of families of Captain Amarinder Singh and Prakash Singh Badal who “licked Punjab like termites” for their personal interests, and on the other side are the people who love the state and want to change how it has been run.

Sidhu, who had cast his vote earlier, asked people to vote carefully, noting that Punjab had lost one generation to terrorism and the next to the menace of drugs.

Amarinder Singh, who was ousted as Chief Minister by the Sidhu-led faction of Congress and went on to form Punjab Lok Congress which allied with BJP, said he was certain of winning Patiala seat which he was contesting.

“I think we will win the elections…They (Congress) live in a different world and will be wiped out in Punjab.”

Also read: What Punjab vote share data tells us about Congress’s Dalit CM gambit

Amarinder also accused AAP chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann of being an anti-national as he was supporting Arvind Kejriwal.

Former AAP leader Kumar Vishwas, who had once been close to Kejriwal, has accused the latter of harbouring separatist ideas for Punjab and wanting to become Khalistani Prime Minister.

Over 2.15 crore people are voting in the Punjab election to choose 117 members for the state assembly today (February 20).

A total of 1,304 candidates, including 93 women and two transgenders, are in the fray. Tight security arrangements have been made for the peaceful conduct of the polls.

Punjab is witnessing a multi-cornered contest among the Congress, AAP, SAD-BSP, BJP-PLC-SAD (Sanyukt) and the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha (SSM), a political front of various farmer bodies. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is contesting the polls in alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

The BJP is fighting the elections in alliance with Amarinder Singh-led Punjab Lok Congress and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa-led SAD (Sanyukt). The SSM is contesting the polls with Haryana Bharatiya Kisan Union (Chaduni) leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni-led Sanyukt Sangharsh Party.