Amarinder no threat to Akalis: Badal

Patiala, Aug 10 (UNI) Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said there would be no challenge or threat to the electoral prospects of SAD-BJP alliance in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections with the return of his predecessor, Capt Amarinder Singh to state politics.

The Chief Minister aired these views at a media conference at Karala village near Banur in the district after laying the foundation stone of a housing colony.

He was asked to comment on the threat that Capt Singh posed to the SAD-BJP alliance in the wake of the restructuring of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) and the induction of the former Chief Minister as Chairman of the Election Campaign Committee of the Congress.

Mr Badal said that Capt Singh could not browbeat the SAD-BJP alliance with his threatening postures and ''use of foul language''.

The Chairman of an election committee in the PPCC was hardly any position worth jubilation, he added.

''We have seen his capability and capacity as a Chief Minister during his last tenure, when he could manage to win only two Lok Sabha seats and we in opposition captured 11 out of 13 seats,'' he added.

He said SAD-BJP was confident of a landslide victory in the next Lok Sabha polls as the people of Punjab were fully aware about the anti-people policies of the Congress party. In this context he refered to the national inflation index.

On the issue of the appointment of the Chairmen of the Boards and Corporations in the state, Mr Badal said those would be made well before the Lok Sabha elections.

Mr Badal ruled out any amendements in the SAD constitution.

However, if a need would arise, a consensus would be evolved, he added.

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