AAP has no future in Punjab: Congress

Ruling Congress MLAs on Monday hit out at the Aam Aadmi Party in the Punjab Assembly, saying it "does not have a future" in the state.

Another Congress MLA Harminder Singh Gill said the AAP could not get even a single 'Sarpanch' (village head) elected in their constituencies after the 2017 Assembly polls.

Gill also claimed that the Congress-led government opened several smart schools in the state and they were even better than those in Delhi. "Almost 2.70 lakh students are studying in pre-primary schools," Gill said.

Participating in the discussion on the Governor's address in the budget session here, Congress MLA Raj Kumar Chabbewal said, "I want to tell AAP leaders that they do not have a future in Punjab". He said the AAP was "convincingly" defeated by the Congress in 2017 assembly elections under the leadership of Amarinder Singh.

Chabbewal also took a dig at the AAP over infighting in the party, saying a few of their legislators kept sitting on their benches while others were in the Well of the House.

Except four AAP MLAs--Sukhpal Khaira, Kanwar Sandhu, Pirmal Singh Khalsa and Jagdev Singh Kamalu, other legislators were protesting in the Well of the House over Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta's purported remarks on the Kartarpur corridor's propensity to be misused for terror training.

Congress MLA Gill also targeted Akalis for burdening the state with Rs 31,000 crore of debt under food account and said the state was paying Rs 3,240 crore as interest per annum.

He also hit out at Akalis for holding separate programme on the occasion of 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev last year.

The legislator also took potshots at the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) over the rally organised by the rebel Akali leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa in Sangrur on Sunday. "Where is Dhindsa now?” Gill asked.

AAP MLA Kanwar Sandhu hailed the Kejriwal government in Delhi for improving the condition of government schools.

Taking on the Congress government, Sandhu, MLA from Kharar, claimed that the sand mafias, transport mafias and cable mafias were still present in the state.

Sandhu also strongly condemned the purported statement of Punjab DGP and said, "There can be some conspiracy to shut the Kartarpur Corridor".