CHANDIGARH: The Punjab chief minister, Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday claimed that he had been a little worried about Aam Aadmi Party, but then most of their seats came from the Malwa region — the southern part of Punjab that has across decades supported different forms of dissent.In Punjab, the main contest has been between two parties only, he said. The AAP won most of its seats from Malwa region — before independence, Praja Mandal (movement for democracy in princely states of undivided Punjab) emerged here and so did Naxalism. Later, Khalistani movement rose from here. Southern Punjab has been always ready for something new, he said.Talking to a senior journalist at the Chandigarh preview of the Times LitFest Delhi, at a city hotel on Friday, during the sesssion “A Soldier, A Gentleman and A Politician”, Amarinder recalled lack of books on Indian military history had compelled him to write books on military history of our country. He also commented on the priorities of his government, politics at the Centre, and relationship with Pakistan.“After taking over the charge the state, I had formed the Special Task Force to curb the drug menace. Around 21,000 people have been jailed till now. By and large, we have brought the situation under control. Though I won’t claim that it has been completely controlled, serious efforts are being made to eradicate it,” he said in answer to a question on the drug menace.Drugs are being supplied from Afghanistan to Punjab through circuitous routes now, he said. “We have found new routes — we recently caught 300kg heroin from Mandavi in Gujarat and 80kg from Uri in Jammu and Kashmir. The target was to supply the seized drugs to Amritsar. These are new challenges from Pakistan to disturb and destabilize Punjab,” the chief minister said.He said he felt that neither Imran Khan nor any other Khan could resolve the dispute with Pakistan until the neighbouring was not freed from the control of military. “First of all, they have to stop killing our soldiers every day. Some initiatives were made when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister. I remember that I had also visited Pakistan during that time and some initiatives were taken to bring the people of two countries close,” the chief minister said.He said the result of the state assembly polls scheduled in five states would indicate the trends of the parliamentary elections. “The Congress is poised to win four of the five states that are going to polls now,” he said. “Rahul Gandhi would be our prime minister candidate. I have known him for a long time — since he was this high and when he was a student, and a now a leader. Now he is a different person and very perceptive. By the God’s grace, he will lead the party,” said the chief minister. He said it was incorrect to equate blasphemy laws in Pakistan with the Punjab government’s decision to make sacrilege of religious books punishable with life imprisonment. “If anyone thinks that they can get away by burning... a Guru Granth Sahib, a Bible, a Quran or any other religious scripture, they should know that we would not allow it and they will have to pay the price for such misadventures.”“We have westerly winds most of the year and if stubble burning was responsible for Delhi’s pollution then Chandigarh’s air should have been as polluted too. I think the pollution comes from within Delhi and Arvind Kejriwal must look at this,” he said.

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