CHANDIGARH: The Chief Minister of Punjab, Beant Singh, last week ruled out the possibility of the State Assembly elections being held in Punjab along with the forthcoming Lok Sabha poll. ‘The Chief Minister pointed out that his government had nearly one and a half years to go before its five-year term expired. “Why should we have elections to the State Assembly earlier?” he asked. He said he was aware of the thinking in certain quarters that it might be better to have assembly elections here along with the Lok Sabha poll to ensure that the Congress party won most, if not all, of the 13 parliamentary seats from Punjab, “But this is not correct,” he said, adding that with the Akali Dal, the situation in the state had undergone a sea change. People wanted peace, progress and prosperity and would never vote for those parties which had fomented trouble in the past.
He emphasized that his government had already won the battle on the law and order front by wiping out militancy. Now, it was devoting itself to the task of speeding up developmental activities in the state.
“In any case, the Lok Sabha elections are not as close as many people think,” quipped Beant Singh, who is also a member of the Congress Working Committee. “These elections may not be held before June next year.”
Beant Singh noted that Opposition parties in Punjab had started coming together in preparation for the coming electoral battle. In this connection, he mentioned the “hob BJP and the BSP. Who, he felt were “strange bedfellows.” Referring to reports of infighting in the Congress party and the differences between him and the President of the Indian Youth Congress, Maninderjit Singh Bitta, he said there were no differences, He had not received any letter from Ahmed Patel, General Secretary of the AICC, asking him to remove Ramesh Singla from the general secretary ship of the PCC.
“I have seen this letter in the press only,” Beant Singh said, adding that he was well within his rights to appoint anyone as office-bearer of the PCC, “I am an elected President, not a nominated one,” he emphasized, ‘The party’s Working Committee had ‘authorized him to appoint office-bearers.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 11, 1995
