Punjab assembly polls: AAP’s Bhagwant Mann says Congress has chosen ‘mafia’ to lead campaign, not poor

CHANDIGARH: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s Punjab president and its chief ministerial face Bhagwant Mann criticised the Gandhi family and the Congress for declaring Charanjit Singh

Channi

as their CM candidate on Sunday.

Mann claimed the Congress has made a mockery of poor and common man by choosing such a person as its chief ministerial face who was facing allegations of illegal mining. Congress’s decision has proved that they want to

rob Punjab

again as they did before, alleged Mann. The AAP leader said that the mafia can be Congress’s choice but not of the people of Punjab.

“It is inexplicable how the Congress is claiming Channi is a poor chief minister whose relatives drove the luxury cars and are caught with piles of money belonging to mafia and transfer-posting,” said Mann. “The people of Punjab have given several chances to the Congress but the ruling party has made the state indebted, thereby the poor became extremely poor, however, their own leaders became rich. The Congress and its leaders have always used poor people and dalits for their vote bank but never thought about their upliftment,” he added.

“Rahul Gandhi has proved that the mafia does not run under the leadership of Captain or Channi but under safe-keeping of the Gandhi family. The people of Punjab know that the ‘diamonds of Congress’ had looted Punjab and patronised the mafia,” hecharged. Rahul had said that politics was not going to be easy for the Congress because people of Punjab had become aware and made up their mind not to bring back the government of those who were patronising the mafia, claimed Mann.

The Sangrur MP said it was comical to hear Channi talking about sand mafia because he himself has been tainted with the allegations of mafia, corruption and of being characterless and his ex-CM Captain Amarinder Singh has confirmed these allegations.

Ridiculing Channi's statement that he would not own any property in his and wife’s name, Mann said by giving everything to his sons and nephews Channi could not mislead the people of Punjab, who would see right through his lies. He compared Channi with Modi in terms of drama and said that people have seen his dramas for the last four months.