Already engaged in a war of words, the Chief Ministers of Punjab and Delhi will come out with battle strategies on Thursday. Both Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal are scheduled to make announcements ahead of 2022 Punjab Assembly polls.

Kejriwal would be on another Punjab visit from Thursday to lead the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) ‘Tiranga March’ in Pathankot after which he would announce the “fourth guarantee”.

On the other hand, Chief Minister Channi is also expected to make some announcement on Thursday. Channi, through his official Twitter handle, has informed that he would be addressing a Press conference at 3 pm.

During the conference, Channi would be sharing the details of development works and pro-people initiatives, which have been taken by his Government since he

assumed the charge as the Chief Minister.

The visit of Kejriwal, AAP’s national convener, will be dedicated to the unity and integrity of the country, and along with this, he will also give a fourth guarantee to Punjab and its people, said AAP Punjab unit president Bhagwant Mann.

“Arvind Kejriwal will reach Pathankot in the afternoon. After this, he will lead the ‘Tirangaa Yatra’ to be organised by the party at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chowk in the city. After addressing the ‘Tirangaa Yatra’, Arvind Kejriwal will give the fourth guarantee to the people of Punjab and then return to Delhi in the evening,” he said.

Mann said before this, Kejriwal has given the first guarantee of free and 24-hour electricity; second guarantee of free health services and setting up 16,000 mohalla clinics; and the third guarantee of giving Rs 1,000 per month to women and girls above 18 years of age. Continuing with this, the fourth guarantee will be given on December 2 in Pathankot, he added.

The development assumes significance as Channi on Wednesday targeted AAP supremo Kejriwal by dubbing him as “outsiders” and “kaale angrez” (black Englishmen).

Asserting that outsiders wanted to rule Punjab, Channi said that Punjab is of Punjabis. “They want to rule Punjab by coming from outside. They don’t know anything about the culture and the needs of Punjab. They are like kaale angrez,” said Channi, addressing a Congress rally at Badhni Kalan in Moga district.

Taking a stern note, AAP’s national spokesperson and Punjab affairs co-in-charge Raghav Chadha said that by sitting in a responsible chair, Chief Minister Channi has crossed all the boundaries of slander, which is a shame.

Chadha, in a video released, said that the people of Punjab love Kejriwal immensely. “Channi today called popular leader Arvind Kejriwal a ‘black Englishman’. Even before this, they (Channi and Congressmen) used to insult Arvind Kejriwal every day. By using such derogatory language for the hero of the people, Channi and his associates are insulting all those people including Punjabis, who like Arvind Kejriwal as a pro-people leader,” he said.

“Today you are saying ‘Black Englishman’, yesterday you were saying, Kejriwal’s clothes are bad. He (Kejriwal) is talking about providing the best education in Punjab, free and quality health services, free and uninterrupted electricity supply from door to door and financial assistance of Rs 1,000 per month to women. It is unfortunate that Chief Minister Channi is sometimes making derogatory remarks on his plain clothes and sometimes on his complexion,” he said.

Chadha asked why Chief Minister Channi did not see the pitiable and deplorable condition of Punjab instead of commenting on Kejriwal’s clothes and colour.