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Congress slogans pique Shiromani Akali Dal

Onkar Singh in New Delhi

Upset with the poll campaign of the Congress party, Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal's son, Sukhbir Singh Badal, held a press conference in Chandigarh on Friday evening to express his party's resentment against some of the slogans of the Congress party.

"We have taken up the matter with the Election Commission," he said.

Congress in its poll campaign has been trying to capitalise on the anti-incumbency factor. One of the slogans which has piqued Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) is Badal Bhagao, Punjab Bachao.

Lakhvinder Kaur Garcha, general secretary of the Congress party in Punjab, said that Badal is now desperate and is making all sorts of allegations against the Congress party.

"Badal had turned the Punjab government into a private limited company and when we attack the government, we have to attack the man who is heading the government. When Akalis said Indira Hatao, Desh Bachao, then they found nothing wrong with their slogan. So what is wrong if the Punjab Congress says Badal Bhagao, Punjab Bachao," she said.

The ruling party has also been taken by surprise by the decision of the Election Commission to deploy only paramilitary forces in the Lambi assembly constituency of Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal.

Gurcharan Singh Channi, secretary of the party, said that he was not aware of any such decision of the Election Commission.

"We will get in touch with the chief electoral officer of the state and find out if they have passed any such directive," Channi told rediff.com from the party office in Jallandhar.

He also alleged that some of the leading newspapers were printing false and baseless poll predictions, which were heavily titled towards the Congress party.

"We have seen one such report appearing in a paper called Jag Bani. According to this report Akali Dal Badal is winning only 29 seats, whereas we are heading for a comfortable majority in the state," he claimed.

O P Kohli, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and in-charge of the party campaign in Punjab, said that Akali Dal-BJP combine are heading for comfortable majority.

"We are improving our position constantly," he said.

While the injured Badal is covering the whole state by travelling in a specially constructed van, the president of the Pradesh Congress Committee, Captain Amarinder Singh, is travelling by a specially hired helicopter.

Uttaranchal governor and former chief minister of Punjab Surjit Singh Barnala, whose son Gaganjit Singh is contesting elections from Barnala, is also keeping a close watch on the poll campaign of his son.

In fact Barnala has been making short trips to Delhi to discuss the fortunes of his son with other Akali leaders.

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