Hamirpur (HP), June 12 (FN Agency) Slamming Congress and BJP for looting the country, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday said that Britishers enslaved India for 200 years but after independence Congress and BJP made us slave in stints of five years each. Addressing a gathering here, CM Mann said that Congress and BJP played friendly match with each other to plunder the public wealth between themselves. He said that like Britishers they also robbed the people of their rights but people had no other option except electing them again and again. He said that but now in the form of AAP people have found a catalyst for change in the country and people are rejecting both the BJP and Congress by opting for AAP. He said that the winds of change that started from Delhi under Arvind Kejriwal had then engulfed Punjab and now it is ready to sweep the entire country. He said that AAP is ready to storm Himachal Pradesh adding that Congress and BJP will be routed out from the hill state. He urged the people to oust Congress and BJP for carving out a new and prosperous Himachal Pradesh. Training his guns against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, CM Mann said that even after crossing 50 years of age, the scion of Nehru-Gandhi family is still a youth leader. He said that a youth is debarred from getting government job after crossing 37 years of age but on the other hand a 94 year old person contests the poll for becoming MLA or MP which is completely unjustified.
He said that AAP is pivot of change in the country a reflection of which is that more than 70 MLAs in Punjab are less than 35 years of age. He said that while the successive governments had turned schools into mid day meal buildings, AAP governments at Delhi and Punjab have transformed them into temple of learnings from where job givers and not job seekers are being produced. Describing quality education as panacea of all ills, he said that it is a powerful tool which can only transform the lives of people. He said that people should support AAP to empower the common man through quality education as is being done in Delhi and Punjab. The Chief Minister said that poverty will not be eliminated merely through lip service of leaders. But, he said that education is the key that can pull people out of poverty by raising their standard of living. He said that Himachal wants an honest and workable government like Delhi and Punjab for transforming the hill state. Striking an emotional chord with the people of Himachal Pradesh, CM Mann recalled the days when he visited the state. He said that Dev Bhoomi Himachal Pradesh is a blessed land and he is fortunate to be here. He also said that the youth of Himachal Pradesh is very talented and the time has come when their enormous potential is tapped for the progress of state and bring prosperity to its people.