Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today said that his party was fighting the Jalandhar by-election on the basis of nine years’ extraordinary performance of the BJP government led by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Addressing a press conference here today along with the BJP state president Ashwani Sharma, vice president Subash Sharma and other senior party leaders, Capt Amarinder said, under the dynamic leadership of PM Modi, the country's stature had risen globally.
“India has faced several domestic and international challenges successfully under Mr Modi’s leadership and people realize that”, he said, while asserting that the BJP was on a strong footing because of the performance of the central government.
“We are reaching out to people on the basis of the performance of the BJP government at the centre”, he said.Besides, the former Chief Minister added, there was unprecedented development all around particularly in the defence and infrastructure sector.
He said, during the tenure of AK Antony as the Defence Minister, there was virtually no purchase of defence equipment and the country was facing an ammunition shortage. He said, during PM Modi’s tenure, the country has become fully equipped in terms of ammunition.
Otherwise, he said, the situation was like during the time of the China war when there was a massive ammunition shortage.Replying to a question over the arrest of Amritpal Singh, Capt Amarinder said, the Punjab government had done it quite late and he should have been arrested much earlier.
He said, nobody should be allowed to play with peace and harmony in the country, as there can be no tolerance towards anti-national activities.The former Chief Minister dismissed the suggestions that a particular community was being maligned or victimized.
“Amritpal is neither a leader nor a representative of any community”, he made it categorically clear while pointing out, “we are living in a secular democracy where everyone is equal”.Capt Amarinder said, he has always shown zero-tolerance to corruption. At the same time, he added, anti-corruption drive should not mean resorting to political witch-hunt and vendetta.
Action should be taken after due inquiry and not just because someone is politically opposed to you and you have to settle some score with him, he remarked.On the issue of Uttar Pradesh gangster Mukhtar Ansari, the former Chief Minister said, he had been arrested and detained in the jail under due process of law, as there was a criminal complaint registered against him in Punjab.