Nabha (Pb):
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Wednesday attacked Narendra Modi over his nationalism narrative, wondering how could the prime minister “boast about” this when he and the BJP were “hell bent” upon “dividing the country on religious lines”.
“He (Modi) is raising the issue of nationalism. How could you brag about it when you are trying to divide the country on religious and caste lines and destroy its strength of secularism and diversity,” Singh said while addressing a poll rally here in favour of his wife and Congress nominee from Patiala Lok Sabha seat Preneet Kaur.
Targeting Modi, the chief minister said a nation cannot be run with a mindset of “nothing is possible without me”.
Singh asked voters to choose between Modi and the Congress in the polls, saying they have to decide who can protect the country and the future of their children.
The CM accused Modi government of “fostering tensions” with Pakistan and China which could lead to serious problems for the border state of Punjab and posing a grave threat to country’s safety and security.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are on an agenda to escalate tensions at the borders to divert attention of the people from their failure to implement a single promise in the past five years,” he alleged.
He also raised the problems of Punjab traders at Attari-Wagah border, saying goods were not going through the land route.
“But they were being routed through Kandla port into Karachi,” he pointed out, adding that Punjabis were suffering huge losses.
He flayed the prime minister for “ruining” the economy with demonetisation and GST.
Polling to all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will be held on May 19.
