Udham Singh memorial in Sunam soon

Sangrur, Punjab: JulyChief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today sought votes for his party secretary eneral Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa from the Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency. Paying tributes to Shaheed Udham Singh on his 74th martyrdom day at a function here today, Badal appealed to the people to vote for the SAD-BJP alliance in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections to help the BJP-led NDA to capture power at the Centre.

He lashed out at his nephew and PPP president Manpreet Singh Badal. “I made him Finance Minister. Despite this, he left the party and is now asking the Congress to field him in the elections. Such persons cannot rise in life,” he said.

Badal criticised the Congress-led UPA Government for “ignoring” the martyrdom days of Bhagat Singh, Udham Singh and Lala Lajpat Rai. He said a martyrs’ memorial would be raised in Sunam once land for the same was identified.

Badal accused the Punjab Congress of lying to the people that all development works in the state were being undertaken by funds provided by the Centre. The fact was the state government got only 30 per cent of the total taxes levied (in the form of central grants).

Badal claimed that Punjab would become power surplus after a year with Unit I of the under-construction thermal plants becoming operative in four months.

To a question, Badal said he would talk to Gujarat Chief Minister Narinder Modi on the alleged discrimination against the 500-odd Sikhs in Kutch by the Gujarat Government who had been reportedly told to sell land and return to Punjab because they were not Gujaratis.

Backing the decision on a separate Telangana state, he said the Centre should consider demands of people from other states in this regard as well.

Among others who paid tributes to Shaheed Udham Singh were Rajya Sabha member Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Chief Parliamentary Secretaries Parkash Chand Garg, Farzana Alam and Balbir Singh Ghunas, Amargarh MLA Iqbal Singh Jhundan and state BJP secretary Jatinder Kalra.

Ferozepur: Sher Singh Ghubaya, MP, paying tributes to Udham Singh at a function here, said it was imperative to make the younger generation aware of the supreme sacrifices made for the country’s freedom. Joginder Singh, MLA, announced a grant of Rs 1 lakh for Shaheed Udham Singh Memorial.

Source: The Tribune