Congress shared Singh’s appeal to Punjab voters on X. “My dear fellow citizens, India is standing at a crucial juncture. In the impending last phase of voting, we have one final chance to ensure that Democracy and our Constitution are protected from the repeated assaults of a despotic regime, trying to unleash dictatorship in India. Punjab and Punjabis are warriors. We are known for our spirit of sacrifice. Our indomitable courage and innate belief in the Democratic ethos of inclusiveness, harmony, amity, and brotherhood can protect our great nation,” wrote Singh.
“In the past ten years, the BJP government has left no stone unturned in castigating Punjab, Punjabis and Punjabiyat. 750 farmers, mostly belonging to Punjab, were martyred while incessantly waiting at Delhi borders, for months together. As if the lathis and the rubber bullets were not enough, none less than the Prime Minister verbally assaulted our farmers by calling them “Andolanjeevis” and “Parjeevi” (Parasites) on the floor of the Parliament. Their only demand was the withdrawal of the three farm laws imposed on them without consulting them.
Singh said that PM Modi had promised to double the income of farmers by 2022 but his policies in the last ten years have eroded the earnings of farmers. “The national average monthly income of farmers is a meagre Rs. 27 rupees per day, while average debt per farmer is Rs. 27,000. High cost of input, including fuel and fertilizers, coupled with GST on at least 35 farm related equipment and a whimsical decision making in farm export and import, has destroyed the savings of our farm households and left them on the margins of our society. The Congress-UPA government had provided a loan waiver worth Rs 72,000 Cr to 3.73 Cr farmers, increased the MSP, widened its spectrum, increased production, while encouraging exports. All this resulted in double the growth in Agriculture in our period, as compared to the last ten years.”
Explaining Congress party’s 5 guarantees under ‘Kisaan Nyay’, the former PM said, “These include-a legal guarantee of the MSP, a stable export-import policy for agriculture, a Permanent Commission on Agricultural Finance for loan waivers, direct transfer of insured compensation to the farmers in 30 days in case of crop losses and removal of GST on farm input products and equipment. In my opinion, these steps would create an environment for the second generation of agricultural reforms.”
Growth under BJP govt plunged to under 6%: Manmohan on GDP
Speaking on GDP growth in India, Singh said, “In the past 10 years, the nation’s economy has witnessed unimaginable turmoil. The imposition of the demonetisation disaster, a flawed GST, and the painful mismanagement during the COVID pandemic has resulted in a miserable situation, where an expectation of a subpar 6-7 per cent GDP growth has become the new normal. Growth under BJP Government has plunged to under 6 per cent, while during Congress-UPA tenure, it was about 8 per cent (New Series). Unprecedented unemployment and unbridled inflation have greatly widened inequality, which is now at a 100-year high.”
Comparing this with the Congress-UPA govt, Singh said that they managed to increase the purchasing power of people despite challenges. “The misrule of the BJP Government has resulted in depletion of household savings to a historic 47-year low. Rural wages have witnessed a systematic fall, and wage disparity has led to widespread distress.
BJP thinks value of patriotism, bravery and service is only 4 years: Manmohan
Criticising the Agniveer scheme of the armed forces, Singh said, “Our youth is the most neglected section of society under the present dispensation. There are 30 lakh Government vacancies. Innumerable paper leaks have cast a dark shadow on their future, even as they are forced to wait for recruitment for years. The “Yuva Nyay” guarantees of Congress party is a course correction in this regard. The Right to Apprenticeship proposed by us will cross the barrier between learning, training, and employment. We have committed that 30 lakh vacancies would be systematically filled according to a job calendar, half of those jobs would be reserved for women, and we will. establish fast-track courts for paper leak cases.”
“The BJP government imposed an ill-conceived Agniveer Scheme on our Armed Forces. The BJP thinks that the value of patriotism, bravery and service is only 4 years. This shows their fake nationalism. Those who trained for regular recruitment were woefully betrayed by the outgoing regime. The youth of Punjab, the son of the farmer, who dreams of serving the motherland through the Armed Forces, is now thinking twice about getting recruited only for a 4-year stint. Agniveer Scheme endangers National Security. Congress party has therefore promised to abolish the Agniveer Scheme,” Singh added.
“My dear fellow citizens, the Congress-UPA government made all possible efforts to help the people of Punjab. The Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor, which is now part of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, and passes through Amritsar, Jalandhar, and Ludhiana was implemented during our tenure. A new oil refinery in Bhatinda was established in 2011, wherein GAIL’s 2200 km cross-country pipeline was dedicated to the nation. We established an IIT at Ropar in 2008 and a National Law University in Patiala in 2006. In 2009, the Shaheed Bhagat Singh memorial was inaugurated at his native place at Khatkar Kalan. The UPA government released to the Government of Punjab for development of Talwandi Sabo and Anandpur Saheb as part of the tercentenary of Guruta-Gaddi of the Guru Granth Saheb.”
Even though there was an Akali-BJP government in the state for most part of my tenure, following true spirit of cooperative federalism, we left no stone unturned in providing the rightful share of resources to the people of Punjab. On the other hand, for five years, when the Congress party was in power, the BJP government at the Centre was consistent in denying funds to Punjab. Whether they were meant for debt restructuring, a legacy issue of the previous BJP-Akali government, or for farm loan waiver, or the pending wage liabilities for MGNREGA.
Modi lowered the gravity of the office of the PM: Manmohan
Heavily criticising PM Modi over his ‘hateful, unparliamentary’ speeches, Singh said that his speeches are ‘purely divisive in nature.’ Singh, who claimed to have been keenly following the political discourse during campaigning, said, “Modi ji is the first Prime Minister to lower the dignity of public discourse, and thereby the gravity of the office of the Prime Minister. No Prime Minister in the past has uttered such hateful, unparliamentary and coarse terms, meant to target either a specific section of the society or the opposition. He has also attributed some false statements to me. I have never in my life singled out one community from the other. That is the sole copyright of the BJP.”
“People of India are seeing through all of this. This narrative of dehumanization has now reachedits peak. It is now our duty to save our beloved nation from these forces of discord. With folded hands, I appeal to each one of you to give love, peace, fraternity, and harmony a chance in India. I appeal to each voter in Punjab to vote for development and inclusive progress. I appeal to all the young minds to exercise caution and vote for a brighter future Only Congress can ensure a growth-oriented progressive future, where Democracy and the Constitution shall be safeguarded.”
Singh ended his appeal with a quote from Allama Iqbal, “Phir uthi akhir sada touheed ki Punjab se, Mard-e-kaamil ne jagaya Hind ko Phir khwaab se.”
