PM Modi lambasts Congress for 'defaming' Punjab

Jalandhar: Dubbing the Congress as a "sinking ship" and "history", Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday called upon voters not to vote for the opposition party in the coming assembly elections in five states. "The Congress is a sinking ship. The Congress is history. It is on its last breath," Modi said at a joint election rally with Punjab Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patron Parkash Singh Badal here. The SAD and Bharatiya Janata Party run an alliance government in Punjab since 2007. "The Congress has no principles or rules. To survive politically, the Congress, which joined hands with the Communists in West Bengal earlier after opposing them for decades, has now joined hands with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh," Modi said. "The country has seen the politics of destruction for 70 years and the youths of this country are suffering due to it. If you want to do politics, do politics of development," Modi said while challenging the opposition parties to change the political discourse in the country. Talking about his fight against corruption, Modi said people who had accumulated black money in the last 70 years were affected by (demonetisation) action initiated by his government against the corrupt. Referring to the controversial Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue, the Prime Minister said Punjab river waters were for its farmers only. "We will bring the water of Indus river, which is flowing into Pakistan, for the farmers of this country," Modi said. The Prime Minister said that in recent years, attempts were made to defame Punjab, its brave people and its youths and urged the people to beware of people doing it. "Punish them (those defaming Punjab) in such a way that no one can point a finger at Punjab. This election is an opportunity to reject those trying to defame Punjab," Modi said. Pointing out that Punjab's pride has been hurt, Modi lamented: "I cannot visualise that politics will stoop to such low levels." Taking a dig at the Congress, the Prime Minister said the Congress was readying itself to return to power in Punjab five years ago also but the voters of Punjab decided otherwise and instead brought Badal back as the Chief Minister. "The Congress is frustrated while sitting out of power. The Congress has no colour, shape or path," he said.