Congress will make Akali-BJP flee Punjab: Amarinder

New Delhi, Apr 9 (UNI) Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, on his arrival here from London, today said the Congress will make the ruling Akali-BJP flee in Punjab's block samiti and municipal committees' elections due within a year.

The Congress leaders who arrived here at the IGI Airport from Punjab to receive Capt Singh this morning include 26 newly elected MLAs, hree MPs, a dozen former state ministers, party's district chiefs and other office-bearers. However, Congress factions owing allegiance to Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and Mr Samsher Singh Dullo stayed away from the reception.

Capt Singh told mediapersons the Akalis had adopted a vindictive stance and was attempting to implicate Congress leaders in false case. ''We will not run away rather face it boldly.'' ''We will take their(Akali-BJP) excesses against us in people's court as well as challenge them in the court of law. The Akalis false propaganda will not sustain long,'' he said.

In fact, the Akali-BJP government is 'one family-rule' which was bound to generate a devastating reaction sooner or later among the people at large, Capt Singh said.

Former Punjab Minister Chaudhary Jagjit singh and Improvement Trust Chairman P S Sibia are being falsely implicated in the Ludhiana City Project which is being exaggrated as ''scam'' despite the fact that ''they are not involved in any irrgularity at all.'' ''Our governance was tranparent and we would prove everything in courts..... then the people will come to know that Akalis' bragging had no substance,'' he added.

Capt Singh left for London on March 15 after taking oath as a legislator of the Vidhan Sabha and said he had stayed there for his medical check-ups.

Referring to the cancelling of ongoing more than two dozen mega projects, Capt Singh said this was done by Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal with intention to ''extort money'' from the promoters by asking them to negotiate projects afresh.

Calling the Akali-BJP government's assertion that outgoing Punjab government had emptied the state treasury ''as mere propaganda'', the former Chief Minister claimed his regime had ''left as much as Rs 850 crore behind'' And added tax recovery was maximum during the Congress regime then ever before.

''We did maximum development works in the state... let us see what our predecessors will do now,'' he added.

UNI