AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said the Bhagwant Mann government in Punjab will not hesitate in taking tough decisions to maintain law and order as he asserted that those trying to spoil the atmosphere in the state are on the run.
Kejriwal's remarks come in the wake of the Punjab Police action against radical preacher and 'Waris Punjab De' chief Amritpal Singh and his associates.
The Delhi chief minister along with his Punjab counterpart was in the city, where the crackdown on the Khalistan sympathiser began on Saturday, to lay the foundation stone of Sri Guru Ravidas Bani Adhyan Centre at Dera Sachkhand Ballan here.
Addressing the gathering, Kejriwal said whoever tries to disturb peace in Punjab will not be spared. "In the past few days, you saw how some people tried to disturb peace in Punjab," he said.
"We do not have to allow the atmosphere to be spoiled at any cost. We have to maintain peace, law and order in Punjab," he said. Kejriwal said the Mann government took tough decisions to maintain peace in the state. "Sometimes, tough decisions have to be taken. But if our AAP government in Punjab under the leadership of Bhagwant Mann will have to take tough decisions, we will not hesitate from taking them," he added.
"Mann saab took tough decisions, but without a bullet being fired and blood being shed, peace is maintained in the entire Punjab today," he said.
Amritpal has been on the run after the police crackdown began. Several images and videos showed him travelling in multiple vehicles to dodge police. The Punjab government has slapped the strictest National Security Act against him and some of his associates.
While the fugitive's whereabouts are still unknown, police say efforts are on to nab him.
On the issue of drugs, Kejriwal asked the people of Punjab to join hands with the AAP government in wiping out this menace. “When 3 crore Punjabis join hands with the government, then no drug peddler will have the courage to sell drugs,” he said.
All drug peddlers will be caught and put in jail, he added.
Kejriwal said the law and order situation in the state has improved after the formation of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.
During the previous governments, their MLAs and ministers had "settings" with gangsters, mafia and criminals, he alleged. But the AAP government does not have any such "setting" with anyone, that is why gangsters and mafia are being punished, he said. Punjab is slowly coming back on track of being 'Rangla Punjab', he said.
“We have to give jobs, we have to give computers to children. We do not have to give drugs and guns to them,” he added.
“You have formed an honest government in Punjab. We can all make the state a 'Rangla Punjab',” he added.
On the health system, Kejriwal said, “We improved and upgraded government hospitals in Delhi and medicines, tests and treatment is free there. The Bhagwant Mann government has also started the work of improving the government hospitals of Punjab.
In Delhi, we have opened mohalla clinics on every street. I opened 550 mohalla clinics in Delhi in five years. Mann saab has opened 500 mohalla clinics in Punjab in just one year,” he added.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.
