Rahul Gandhi vows to bring back jobs to Punjab, accuses Arvind Kejriwal for blast in Bhatinda

NEW DELHI: Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi today said what used to be the pride of Punjab—factories and jobs—were now shifting to Jharkhand and Chattisgarh. If the Congress government was elected, it would bring back the jobs, he said while addressing an election rally at Sangrur in Punjab.

Rahul also said that Congress, if elected, would build a world-class cancer hospital in the state and eradicate the disease which is rampant now.

"During the UPA rule, farmer loans worth Rs 70,000 crore were waived off and if elected to power, the Congress government will again waive off farm loans," he said.

"There was bomb blast a couple of days back in which six people died. And Arvind Kejriwal is backing the perpetrators of the blast. He is allowing them to contest elections. This is very dangerous for Punjab. If these elements gain strength in Punjab, then it will hijack all the development issues," said Gandhi during a public rally, on the last day of campaigning for the February 4 elections.

Gandhi's comments come as Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal earlier said in a statement that "the manner in which the bomb blasts were executed was a throwback to the days of terrorism".

State Congress president and chief ministerial candidate Amarinder Singh has also accused Kejriwal for "promoting extremist forces" such as the Khalistan Commando Force.

Addressing the rally, Rahul on Thursday also promised to curb the drug menace in Punjab by bringing in new law and also vowed to give treatment to every family in the hospitals.

"If we come to power, we will give free treatment to every family in Punjab. We will also establish a state-of-art cancer hospital in Punjab, which will be well-renowned across the country," he added.