Punjab: Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has urged the electorate to build a good government and said that his "Punjab model" had changed the lives of the citizens of the state. He claimed that only such a model could rein in thieves and that for 30 years, Punjab had been looted by two previous CMs who ran "mafias" in the state.
"The leader selected will have absolute power. The state is like a pyramid. One person will make it to the top," Sidhu said at a media briefing in Amritsar. "Remember, thieves were made to sit at the top and the state became bankrupt. Make an honest person the CM this time, a person with a vision."
"The CM will be made if 60 MLAs are made. No one is talking about the 60 MLAs. No one is talking about the road map to government formation. Did I budge from policy? Did I move from the budgetary allocations? Did Sidhu open his own sand mine or liquor shop? I may be the only one person whose income has diminished in crores. But I am satisfied," Sidhu said.
"Will a person connected with the mafia stop the mafia? For 30 years, two CMs ran the mafia," he said, in reference to corruption in the system.
The Congress leader also hit out at Arvind Kejriwal, whose Aam Aadmi Party is also competing in assembly elections due to be held in the state this month, alleging that Kejriwal had copied his "Punjab Model" and used it in his own campaign.
"I have given a proper plan. If we follow it, the state goes upward. Prices of sand and cable will be fixed in the state," adding that ₹5,000 crore should come into the state's exchequer from cable TV networks, and the permits should be given to youngsters.
Sidhu earlier said that "people at the top" want a weak chief minister in the state who will run the government according to their wishes. He, however, did not clarify whether he was referring to the central leadership of the Congress.
Punjab is set to vote for its next government on February 20, the results of which would be announced on March 10. Sidhu is contesting the February 20 elections from the Amritsar East constituency. His statement came a day before Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is set to announce the party's chief ministerial face for the polls.