JALANDHAR: Beant Singh, Chief Minister, recently came down heavily on “Friends of Punjab”, an organization floated in Delhi by former Union Minister Subodh Kant Sahai, Jagiit Singh Arora and Dr.Mahip Singh.
Addressing an election meeting in Kartarpur near here in support of the Congress candidate, Umrao Singh the Chief Minister described the trio as enemies of Punjab. After they were rejected by the people in their home states they had formed the organization.
He alleged that Sahai had contested the ¢lection from Ludhiana to collect money. He asked where these people were when Punjab was in the midst of bloodbath.
Beant Singh said that the Akalis and the BJP had reached a secret understanding to disturb the peace in Punjab. The issue in the by-election was whether the people wanted peace or not. He said the Congress was the only party which was secular.
He said Gurcharan Singh Tohra the SGPC president, had done nothing to improve conditions of gurdwaras. He was responsible for allowing the Golden Temple complex to become a fortress and haven of the antinational elements.
Beant Singh said after the Congress government came (to power in Punjab the tempo of development had been speeded up.
Chowdhary Jagjit Singh, and Jagmohan Singh Kang, ministers of state, also spoke.
Meanwhile, Harcharan Singh Hero, acting president of the Punjab Congress, and Surinder Kapoor, Minister of State for Public Relations, in a joint statement expressed confidence that the voters of the Jalandhar constituency would support Umrao Singh because they knew which party had restored peace in the State.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 21, 1993
