Punjab polls: Channi is like a commander without an army, says Rajnath Singh

New Delhi: Referring to the “infighting within the Congress party” in Punjab, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday took a dig at Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and said that he is like a Commander without an army.

Addressing a rally in Amritsar, Singh said, “I see the Chief Minister of Punjab. Ye to bina sainiko wale senapati hain (He is like a Commander without army). He has become the Senapati (Chief Minister), but he does not have any army. But Congress is fighting within itself.” The Defence Minister further said that there are two batters in Congress fighting for the same crease and both of them are certain to get out (in the language of Cricket).

“You know there are two batters in the Congress party at the moment. Both of them want to bat together. None of them wants to be the non-striker. Both batters are fighting on one crease. So, it is certain that they will get out. Nobody can prevent it,” he said.

Slamming CM Channi for his reported ‘UP, Bihar ke bhaiya’ remark, Singh said that Congress wants to gain power by dividing the society.

“Congress wants to gain power by dividing the society. When he(Channi) was saying this, Priyanka Gandhi was standing there. India is the only country that has not considered not only the people living within its borders as its family, but also the people across the world,” he slammed Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for endorsing the views of Channi by clapping during his speech.

Singh also hit out at Aam Aadmi Party for their promise to ban the liquor in Punjab if their government is formed in the state, and said that they opened liquor shops in Delhi and are saying that they would ban the same in Punjab.

“There is a wind of change in Punjab. The people will not tolerate ‘loot-tantra’ in the name of ‘lok-tantra’. One has looted Punjab, and the other who has come from Delhi and claiming to form government in Punjab, what has he done? Ask the people of Delhi,” he said

“AAP says that if their government is formed, they will ban liquor. Those who opened the liquor shops in the streets of Delhi say here that they will ban liquor in Punjab. It is only the BJP that can ban liquor,” Singh added.

Punjab is slated to go to the Assembly polls on February 20. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.