AMRITSAR: Only the Aam Aadmi Party can take Punjab on the path of progress and it will form government in the state with a "landslide victory" in the 2022 assembly elections, party leader Raghav Chadha said on Friday.
Addressing a press conference here, Chadha, who is the AAP's Punjab co-incharge, alleged that the state had been "looted" by the SAD-BJP and the Congress governments.
"Now the people of Punjab have made up their minds that only one party can take Punjab on the path of progress, and this time they will form a government of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)," he said.
The Congress is in power in the state. Chadha said that before the previous state assembly polls, the Congress had made many promises like waiving all debts of farmers, implementing 'Ghar-Ghar Rozgar', eradicating drug menace in four weeks.
"But none of them were fulfilled," he claimed.
Lashing out at Akalis, Chadha alleged that when the "farm ordinances were promulgated, SAD, in greed of power, remained part of Modi-led central government".
"After these were introduced as bills, they kept praising the anti-farmers black laws. Even when these were passed in Parliament and became laws, Harsimrat Kaur Badal remained the union minister. But, later on after seeing the anger of the people, she resigned out of compulsion," he claimed.
The laws related to the agriculture sector were enacted in September last year and thousands of farmers for the past over one month are protesting at Delhi's borders against the legislations, demanding that these be repealed.
The protests are being staged against the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
The government has presented these laws, enacted in September, as major agriculture reforms aimed at helping farmers and increasing their income, but the protesting unions fear that the new legislations have left them at the mercy of big corporates by weakening the MSP and 'mandi' systems.
The AAP leader said, "The Congress and the SAD have betrayed the people of Punjab, and at present, the people have high expectations from the Aam Aadmi Party to make Punjab prosperous again and bring it out of darkness."
Chadha claimed that the people of Punjab know that the Arvind Kejriwal-led government in Delhi undertook development.
He said that the people were especially impressed with the work done by the Kejriwal government in the health and the education sectors.
On who would be chief ministerial face of the AAP in Punjab, Chadha said that the party will clear the air on this issue soon.
The chief ministerial face would be one from among the people of Punjab, he said.
AAP MP and the party's state unit president Bhagwant Mann and Leader of Opposition and senior leader Harpal Cheema and some party MLAs from the state were also present at the press conference.
Earlier, Chadha paid obeisance at the Golden temple and the Durgiana temple here.