Amarinder has turned Punjab into 'drinking joint' : Jaitley

Amritsar, June 4 (UNI) BJP national secretary Arun Jaitley today gave a call for a ''change'' in Punjab as the border state had been turned into a ''drinking joint'' by the Amarinder Singh government.

''There is a liquor vend in every nook and corner of Punjab'', Mr Jaitley said while addressing the party's 'Parivartan Rally' here.

In the last year of its rule the Congress government of Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh could boast of no other achievement, except of opening liquor vends in collusion with the liquor mafia, he alleged. A government which promotes unhealthy practices should not be allowed to remain in office, he added.

In the first four years of its rule the Amarinder Singh government tried its best to silence the voice of the opposition by following the policy of political vindictiveness against its political opponents,he alleged. The Punjab government has been a failure on all fronts and there was no worthwhile achievement that it could boast of, he added.

Turning to the UPA government, the BJP leader said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was a ''confused man'' and failed to control the prices of essential commodities. The round table conference on Kashmir was a failure as the UPA government did not take the opposition into confidence, he claimed.

Giving a call to Punjabis to oust the Amarinder Singh government, Mr Jaitley said that ''change was necessary for the future of the state''. Local MP and former test cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu also echoed the views of his senior party colleague.

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