Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal has launched a scathing attack on the Congress first family saying the Gandhis raised the issue of drugs in Punjab because "they are against Sikhs".
In an interview with CNN-News18's Marya Shakil, Badal said the drug issue was raked up ahead of the polls by the Congress and spread by the media and that tests carried out by the Punjab government suggested otherwise.
Badal was confident of the ruling BJP-SAD combine returning to power in the upcoming state elections and made light of the Aam Aadmi Party challenge saying Arvind Kejriwal's party will not get more than 10 seats.
Here are excerpts from the interview.
Q. Punjab is already on election mode. On a scale of 1-10, what are your chances of returning to power?
I think 9. I think 10 on 10
Q. Is this misplaced optimism?
This is what everyone said last time too
Q. Let’s look at 2012 and 2014…In 2014, during the peak of the Narendra Modi wave you won 4 out of 10 seats that you contested. Before 2012 Assembly polls you had said that you had apprehensions because Punjab has the tradition of not returning governments to power. It’s a triangular contest now, there is a strong anti-incumbency.
You answered your own question. We used to fight one to one. Now it’s one to three, four or five.
Q. Who is your principal opponent?
Congress. AAP is also there…. BSP too, then there will be rebel Congress candidates
Q. Are you saying that the anti-government votes will be divided?
This anti-incumbency word is used every time an election starts even if a person is doing an excellent job. What is anti-incumbency? In a democratic set up people have the right to vote, now you are trying to compare 2012 with 2014. Compare Parliament to Parliament or assembly to assembly. In Lok Sabha elections, in the history of Punjab the ruling party has never got a majority. If you look at the assembly election history of Punjab, Congress has never got more than 63 seats in a house of 117. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has reached 80-85.
Q. Rallies of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab have seen a huge youth participation. Also, of late, the campaign of Congress led by Capt Amarinder Singh too has gained traction. Are you worried?
AAP used to get crowds a year back. Not anymore. People of Punjab have realised that AAP is no longer the same what it used to be earlier. This party is involved in sacrilege. An AAP MLA is involved in the sacrilege of the Holy Quran in Punjab. They have been talking bad about Guru Granth Sahib. They have so many cases against them. At least 35 of their MLA candidates have a criminal record.
Q. So you are saying that your opponent is the AAP and not Congress?
No, our opponent is the Congress. You can take it from me in writing that AAP will not get more than 10 seats out of 117. That’s the actual situation.
Q. But opinion polls seem to be suggesting something else?
During the last elections, opinion polls said that Akali Dal will be wiped out, but we ended up forming the government. The people of Punjab know exactly whom to vote for and they look at governance. They don’t go by media perception.
Q. You talk about governance, but aren’t you going back to your old tried-and-tested agenda? Last week you took the national and international media to Amritsar. Are you not using religion to polarise the Sikh community? The same Sikh community, which seems upset with you for not following up on the unsolved sacrilege cases?
Don’t try to mix two different things. The Amritsar programme was about the beautification of the town. You cannot call it a religious agenda. Secondly, 99℅ of all sacrilegious cases have been solved except one because it had international ramifications. We handed it to CBI.
Q. The central theme of campaigns of AAP and Congress is corruption. They allege that your Orbit Group which has a business interest in transport, real estate, hospitality, TV etc is growing at the cost of the state’s development. How do you respond to that?
My hotel is in Haryana, so what interest does it have in Punjab? My transport company was formed in 1947. I haven’t taken a single favour. There is not a single scam or scandal against our government for the last 10 years. And every day you hear about the AAP MLAs and their ministers getting caught. How many have resigned from the cabinet? I think only Arvind Kejriwal and their deputy CM are left now. Everyone else had to resign.
Q. Your opponents are saying, AAP in particular, that there is some kind of a tacit arrangement between you and Captain Amarinder Singh. They allege that’s why you gave a clean chit to him in the 10-year-old Amritsar improvement trust case, three months before polls…
First of all we don’t give clean chits. When CBI gives a verdict you don’t say PM Modi has given the verdict. We have a vigilance which is independent from the government. As per SC directions they were given charge of the investigation. So if they give a report it doesn’t mean that we have done it. We have registered a case again Capt. Amarinder Singh who is facing the biggest scam worth crores. He is facing disproportionate assets cases. Look at the history of cases against him.
Q. Are you fearing some kind of political vendetta from Capt. Amarinder Singh in case you lose power?
No, he tried his best last time. When he came power he put his full might against us. What happened? We got acquitted by the court. They couldn’t find anything. See, we have been through the maximum scrutiny any politician can go through. The Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax Department evaluated us, the vigilance and the Punjab Police hounded our family. They didn’t find a single thing.
Q. This is the first time in Indian political history that rampant drug abuse is becoming an election campaign issue...
That was going to be an issue....not anymore.
Q. You think drugs are not an issue in this election?
No. Why? Because we have proved it to the nation that it is a false propaganda against our state. Rahul Gandhi comes to Punjab, and somebody gives him a slip where he writes that 70% drug addicts tested were youth. Instead of saying that, he said 70% youth are on drugs. And the national media, like your channel picked it up. And they have picked it up in such a big way that they started repeating it again and again...without even confirming it.
Q. I know you are denying its existence...I know you confronted Rahul Gandhi...
No. Listen, just hear me out. I am not trying to deny its existence. But drugs come to India through two sources: One is from North-east which is near Burma. Another is from Pakistan and Afghanistan. ISI is fighting a narcotic war against India. There are four states bordering Pakistan. One is Gujarat. There is complete desert there and marshy lands. So for miles you can see everything. So no drugs come from there. In Rajasthan it is all sand dunes. In J&K the army is there in big force. So automatically, Punjab is right on the border. Every day BSF is catching drugs. These drugs are meant for India, meant for Mumbai, Goa and Delhi. But we are catching them. When we catch them a story comes out, that so many kgs of drugs are caught in Punjab. People of India have been made to think that these are for Punjab...
Q. Made to think by whom? There was a survey done by AIIMS, commissioned by your ally BJP which is in power at the Centre. Union minister and BJP leader from Punjab Vijay Sampla said that it will take 10 years to give full treatment to drug users in Punjab. At least acknowledge the problem…
You have to acknowledge that you have misled the nation. What AIIMS survey? Did they physically go and find out? Because of all this media hype, which has been projecting Punjab youth...basically what happens is that the Gandhi family is against the Sikhs. The Gandhi family always when they come, they do something....so their frustration came out...Since they are an important political family, the media lapped it up....
Q. Are you saying that Rahul Gandhi created an issue out of the drug problem?
Yes, absolutely. Once it became such a big issue throughout the country....we were left with no options but to put reality in front of people. What options did we have? I thought the best option would be to get a physical drug test done on youth of Punjab. We asked for police application, it was a normal process. Approximately 5 lakh youth applied, and when the application came we said that the best way to face this reality is by checking ourselves. How many of that 5 lakh youth are actually taking drugs?
Q. But CNN-News18 even did an investigation....
They did not know about it. So we decided and directed Baba Farid University of Health Sciences and imported America-approved drug kits. We spent Rs 3 crore, we invited the media. And I called up editors, even yours to send a team to see the reality. Around 4.5-5 lakh youth were tested and only 1.26 % of youth were found having drugs. And that is half the national average. These are physical tests. These are not surveys.
Q. So you are saying an issue has been created by whom?
Started by the Gandhi family.
Q. Why did they do this?
Hatred towards Punjab. Their target was the Badals, the Akali-BJP government. Till date have you heard of any scam or scandal in Punjab? Only one issue, drugs again and again. This has been started by the Congress. The media lapped it up and without going deep into the problem, without SC giving a verdict.
Q. Let’s talk about your brother-in-law Bikram Singh Majithia, the state cabinet minister. The Enforcement Directorate interrogated him in December 2014, and the investigating officer Niranjan Singh told the Punjab & Haryana High Court, that he was influencing the probe. Three witnesses have named him kingpin, as the one who patronised drug deals. Why didn’t you ask him to resign?
Punjab police catches a drug lord….if we are a part of the drug lord why will we catch him? For four months when he was caught and he gave his statements, he never mentioned anything. Just while going when he gave a statement media picked it up. Has ED given any statement that he (Majithia) was involved in it? Punjab & Haryana HC scrutinised every statement of ED, every investigation was under the complete scrutiny of HC. They said that the high court investigation has been perfect. You declared Punjab as (full of) drugs, youth of Punjab as drug addicts.
Q. Not us. Opposition parties.
When your team was asked to visit the drug testing centres, why didn’t the media go there? Why didn’t you cover the story, because it wouldn’t have sold TRPs? You should have at least had the courage to come.
Q: Do you suspect that the part of your administration could have colluded with the drug mafia?
No. No one in the administration is involved with the drug mafia.
Q: There's nobody (in Punjab government) colluding with the drug mafia?
No, why should they? If anybody would have been, they would have been behind bars. What I am saying is it’s a basic courtesy to the state, to the youth of Punjab, to the residents of Punjab. Why aren’t you highlighting the physical sample of 4 lakh youth done and the 1.2% figure in the media? Why aren't you covering it in your media? I want to ask you. You covered to the neck the false statement and actual physical sample took place. We invited the channel, they sent their reporters. They were taken aback that they were projecting something wrong.
Q: Are you saying the Congress and the AAP is wrong in making drugs an issue in this election?
I am saying the drug issue in Punjab is half of what is prevalent in the country. If you consider Punjab gone, that means the country is ruined. If you go to Goa, in every corner you can get drugs. Have you ever seen anybody talking against drugs there? You go to Maharashtra, there are rave parties. In Gurgaon, there are rave parties. Have you ever heard of rave parties in Punjab?
Q: How much of a threat is Navjot Singh Siddhu and his Awaaz-e-Punjab to your party?
See, Navjot Singh Siddhu has made himself into a product. Like you go to grocery store, you have so many products lined up. There's an expiry date on every product. If you buy it at that time, it's fine. If you don’t buy it, it will go waste. He has lost everything. What is Navjot Singh Siddhu? Just because he's a comedian and he makes people laugh...
Q: Where is he going? Is he going to Congress?
He's selling himself
Q: And nobody's buying him. Is that what you are saying?
Yes, he's selling. As the expiry date comes closer, the value goes down.
Q. There was a Twitter war between Captain Amarinder Singh and Arvind Kejriwal. Kejriwal, during the course of that Twitter war, said that he would debate only with the Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi. Singh says he would have a debate with your father Parkash Singh Badal. How are you placed in this entire debate discussion?
See, whoever wins among them can come to us. They're fighting for second and third position, so...
Q: Are you also ready for the debate with both of them?
I am ready for a debate with anybody
Q. With Capt Amarinder Singh and Arvind Kejriwal?
Yes, anybody. Any time.
Q. They should decide the place and time?
They should decide, I'm there.
Q. Will we see any sort of generational shift or handing over of the baton as is being talked about post or pre-election in SAD?
I think my father is the best person to lead the state. Like you know, you go to Harvard University for what? For the best education. You know he's the best man to lead Punjab. He's given his complete life, he knows the people of Punjab. You can't have a better person to rule than him. Working under him is the biggest experience of your lifetime. Why do youngsters go and get experience in the top companies? Because they learn a lot of things. Under him, every day you learn things.
Q. You are heading a border state. Recently, we saw brutal retaliation from Pakistan. A soldier was martyred and his body mutilated. There have been a number of ceasefire violations as well. Since you are a border state, do you fear that this kind of escalation will reach a proportion where India won't be able manage it?
I think when you have a strong General, the other party realises that they won’t be able to go that far. They know PM Narendra Modi is a very tough person. So, I don't think Pakistan has the guts to go beyond these mortars. They're getting a much stronger reaction from our side. Has any PM had the guts to react the way PM Modi reacted by carrying out the surgical strikes? You know this is something unheard of in Indian history for the last 30-40 years. We're clearly sending a strong message to Pakistan.
Q: Since you're also a state that has lost years to militancy, you have campaigned for a special package for particularly the border districts. The response that you got from the centre, from Modi government, has not been too cooperative. Is everything right between the allies?
I think what PM Modi has done for the state in the last 2 years is much more than what we've received from any Congress government for last 10 years. He's given AIIMS to Punjab, he's doubled the IITs, and he’s cleared road projects worth Rs 30,000 crore. That means every town in Punjab in one year will be linked to 4 to 6 lane expressways. No other state in the country will have such a road network. Besides that, he just cleared a special access control expressway Amritsar to Delhi, which is worth Rs 30,000-40,000 crore.
Q: Are you in favor of resuming a dialogue with Pakistan?
There is no point in dialogue just for the sake of dialogue. But if somebody is serious about a dialogue, if they want to do something, then yes dialogue is the only answer. But just to open a chapter, the PM has to decide that. Because my saying here doesn’t matter. I'm not privy to the details of what is happening. So, I think our PM is competent enough and strong enough to make the right decision at the right time.
Q: My last question to you sir, and this is going back to where I started. Who is the principal opponent to SAD in this election?
The principal opponent is going to be Congress. And you mark my word, AAP does not exist anymore in Punjab. They will get less than 10 seats. I said it last time during the elections also, I predicted the same thing of the govt. Nobody believed me. After that, I had another interview with your channel and other channels, and I proved to them what I had said was right. What happens is we're on the ground everyday, we can judge. One year back, it was a different story of AAP and today it's completely a different story. Now, Kejriwal, who is the Delhi CM, visits Punjab…have you seen the response? The crowd is limited to 200-300 people. You won't even know he's gone in or gone out. Because people have realized he's a fake.
Q: And what about Captain Amarinder Singh?
See, people of Punjab know Amarinder Singh. You know sometimes, when you know someone well, you know what they're about. Can you imagine that he was CM for 5 years? Ludhiana is an industrial hub, not once in 5 years did he meet the industry of Punjab. He came to Ludhiana once in 5 years. That too, in a Sutlej club, there was a function where he came to play cards.
Q: Are you confident of returning to power?
Two-three months ago, in our assembly session, I asked the Cong one question: Name 5 things Capt Amrinder Singh has done in 5 years. It's officially recorded in the Punjab Assembly. They could not name 5 things. Then, I asked them name four. They couldn't answer. I said name three. They couldn't answer...
I said then name one! Then the leader of the Opposition got up and said "We've done patchwork of roads". That is the level of work they've done.
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