Punjab News:Congress Has No Vision Or Leadership For Punjab: AAP

Dalit Leader Was Assaulted Inside Congress Bhawan; Rahul Gandhi Didn’t Utter Single Word, This Exposes Congress’s Anti-Dalit Mindset: Aman Arora

Beyond Abusing CM Bhagwant Singh Mann, Rahul Gandhi Had Nothing To Say About Punjab & Its Future: AAP

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday slammed Rahul Gandhi over his directionless ‘Insaaf Rally’ in Sangrur, saying that the Congress leader had neither a vision nor leadership to offer Punjab and had once again failed to articulate any roadmap for the state’s future. The AAP said that beyond hurling abuses at CM Bhagwant Singh Mann and the elected Punjab government, Rahul Gandhi had nothing meaningful to say about the state’s pressing issues or development. More tellingly, while preaching about justice, Rahul Gandhi did not utter a single word about the assault on a senior Dalit leader inside Congress Bhawan, where casteist slurs were also hurled at him.

AAP Punjab President Aman Arora said that this silence exposed Congress’s anti-Dalit mindset and laid bare the contradiction between the party’s public claims of standing for justice and its conduct within its own organisation.

AAP Punjab President Aman Arora said that Rahul Gandhi’s silence exposed Congress’s anti-Dalit mindset, while his decision to focus solely on attacking the AAP government instead of addressing Punjab’s pressing issues showed how little the Congress leadership had to offer the state.

In a statement, the AAP said that the most glaring contradiction in Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s visit was his silence on the assault and casteist abuse of senior Dalit Congress leader Ranjit Singh Tarkhan Majra inside Congress Bhawan. “The leader had complained that he was assaulted and subjected to casteist remarks by former Punjab Youth Congress president Barinder Singh Dhillon, who is known to be close to former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi. Despite organising a so-called ‘Insaaf Rally’ in Punjab, Rahul Gandhi did not address the issue or speak about justice for the senior Dalit leader,” the party affirmed.

The AAP said that Congress has been reduced to a fragmented political organisation with diminishing electoral relevance across the country. “Its repeated electoral setbacks and candidates losing their deposits in several constituencies reflect the party’s declining political standing. Punjab, too, has witnessed Congress’s political decline, with the party unable to present a credible alternative or a constructive agenda before the people,” it added.

Rahul Gandhi’s Sangrur rally offered no answers on how Congress intends to take Punjab forward, what its development priorities are or how it plans to resolve the challenges confronting the state. While the AAP government has fulfilled its five guarantees in five years and is working on its commitments to the people, Congress continues to rely on recycled political rhetoric instead of presenting a concrete vision.

Rahul Gandhi’s Silence On Assault Of Senior Dalit Leader Inside Congress Bhawan Exposes Congress’s Contradiction: Aman Arora

During a media interaction, AAP Punjab President Aman Arora said that Rahul Gandhi’s silence on the assault of senior Dalit leader Ranjit Singh Tarkhan Majra inside Congress Bhawan is disturbing, given that the Congress leader had come to Punjab to address an Insaaf Rally. “Rahul Gandhi spoke at length during his visit to Punjab, but did not utter a single word about the senior Dalit leader who was beaten inside Congress Bhawan and subjected to casteist slurs. If a senior Dalit leader can face such treatment inside the Congress party’s own headquarters, it raises serious questions about the party’s attitude towards Dalit dignity. Rahul Gandhi’s silence on this incident exposes the mindset of the Congress leadership,” he said.

The issue raised by Tarkhan Majra concerns former Punjab Youth Congress president Barinder Singh Dhillon, who is a close associate of former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi. AAP said that both Charanjit Singh Channi and the Congress leadership must answer why justice for a senior Dalit leader has not figured in Rahul Gandhi’s public statements.

Arora questioned how Rahul Gandhi expected to address Punjab’s problems without presenting any concrete proposals for the state’s future. “What will Punjab gain by coming here and abusing the AAP, our government and CM Bhagwant Singh Mann? Will Punjab’s problems be resolved merely by hurling abuses? Rahul Gandhi should have spoken about Punjab’s future, the challenges facing its people and the vision his party has for the state. Instead, he chose not to address the issues that demanded answers, including the injustice faced by a senior Dalit leader inside his own party’s office,” said Aman Arora.

AAP said that the people of Punjab expected political parties to present their vision, development agenda and commitment to social justice. Congress’s Sangrur rally, it said, failed to address these fundamental expectations.