Chandigarh (The Hawk): Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president and former Deputy CM of Punjab Sukhbir Singh Badal Monday said the inability of chief minister Bhagwant Mann to manage the home portfolio was resulting in dacoities of crores of rupees on an everyday basis.
Talking to newsmen, the SAD president said “never has Punjab been wrecked by multi-crore dacoities and heists on an everyday basis as is occurring in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. “Dacoits and gangsters have become emboldened in the AAP raj to the detriment of the common man who was expecting real ‘badlav’ from this corrupt and deceitful government”.
Mr Sukhbir Badal said all this was the result of the chief minister’s preoccupation with fulfilling the commands of his boss and AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal. “The chief minister has been relegated to the role of a chaperone whose only responsibility was to command the State aircraft for the use of Kejriwal. Besides this, the AAP high command is making the Punjab chief minister use funds from the State exchequer to campaign for AAP nation-wide”.
Asserting that the chief minister’s continued absence from the State as well as his failure to take effective meetings to review the law and order situation had led to the present role in the system, Mr Badal said “it seems the AAP government has sublet law and order to dacoits and gangsters who are calling the shots in the absence of the Punjab law enforcement agencies”.
Answering a media query, Mr Badal said the AAP government was trying to deceive people by asserting that it was giving 300 units free power to them when it had taxed them the twice amount by repeatedly raising fuel prices to make petrol and diesel amongst the costliest in the region. Asserting that “this government is adept at giving Rs one and taking back double the amount from the poor and disadvantaged sections of society, Mr badal said “several social welfare benefits including old age pension scheme, aata - daal scheme, Shagun scheme and SC Scholarship scheme have been severely pruned”. He said “the AAP government has also put an end to free cycles for girls’ scheme, Teerath Yatra scheme, medical insurance scheme, free utensils scheme, gyms as well as Suvidha Kendras and Sewa Kendras. This only shows the duplicitous nature of this government which is taxing the people above and beyond the benefits extended to them”, he added.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today said chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s unseemly confrontation policy and unconstitutional conduct with Punjab Governor Banwari Lal Purohit and the union government had caused losses of hundreds of crores to the State besides endangering the health sector as well as neglect of essential rural infrastructure.
In a statement here, senior SAD leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said it was Punjab’s misfortune that its chief minister was not working as per constitutional norms and was engaged in a public war of words with the Governor instead of working to fulfil the needs of Punjabis. He said the recent statement of the Governor that the chief minister had not cared to reply to his ten letters spoke volumes of the manner in which the State was being run under the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dispensation.
Asserting that Punjab was suffering due to the chief minister’s unseemly conduct, Dr Daljit Cheema said “even while the need of the hour was to generate more funds, the chief minister was unable to even get the State’s dues released from the central government”. He said the chief minister had failed to forcefully take up the issue of release of Rural Development Fund (RDF) funds due to the State with the centre.
Dr Cheema said besides this, the State had let go of nearly Rs 800 crore due from the National Health Mission. “The chief minister insisted on creating Aam Aadmi clinics going against the norms of the centre which resulted in denial of funds to it from the NHM. Now when the health sector is on the brink of collapse the AAP government has transferred doctors and staff posted in the Aam Aadmi clinics back to primary and rural dispensaries”.
Asking the chief minister to run the State keeping in view the wishes of Punjabis as well as the promises made to them, the SAD leader said it was unfortunate that the chief minister was depending on confrontation and cheap publicity accompanied with a Rs 750 crore advertising budget to run the State.
—Jag Mohan Thaken
