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Talk less, work more: Shiromani Akali Dal tells Navjot Singh Sidhu

After he accused the SAD-BJP regime of framing toothless law on outdoor advertising

Navjot Singh Sidhu. (File Photo)
Navjot Singh Sidhu comes out of Parliament House after resigning from Rajya Sabha as Member of Parliament on the first day the Monsoon Session in New Delhi.
Press Trust of India Chandigarh
Last Updated : Aug 13 2017 | 9:17 PM IST
The Shiromani Akali Dal today attacked Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, saying he should "talk less and deliver more", a day after he accused the SAD-BJP regime of framing "toothless" law on outdoor advertising and causing "revenue leakage".

The opposition party also asked him to elaborate about his contributions made to the state after becoming a minister, except flagging off fire tenders.

Former minister and SAD spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema, in a statement, said, "Today we have learnt of your latest dream that the state lost heavily in outdoor advertising during the last five-year of the SAD-BJP rule. We are looking forward to see how you will earn this so called lost money for the state.

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He said that you should earn Rs 75 crore through the outdoor advertising in the next three months to prove your point.

"If you are unable to do that, then seek an apology from Punjabis for trying to be-fool them with false statements and cheap theatrics," the former education minister said.

Sidhu, he said, seemed to have been "stricken by an Akali phobia" and claimed that it was because of this he was "hell bent" on reversing the every positive step taken by the erstwhile SAD-BJP government.

"Sidhu has stopped the BRTS project which was undertaken to decongest Amritsar. The project has been scrapped by him despite the fact that 15 of the 93 buses purchased for the project had already started running.

"Earlier, Sidhu scrapped the amphibious water bus project at Harike Pattan which was designed to put the wetland on the international tourist circuit," he alleged.

Asking Sidhu not to let his "hatred" for the SAD come in the way of the state's development, Cheema said Sidhu should realise that he had been given the mandate to serve the people, not to discriminate against them.

"Governance is not a comedy circus where you will make a few guffaws and laugh off everything. Here you will have to deliver on your words. Five months have already passed. You have not made a single contribution to the state.

"Your one single act of flagging off fire riders also led to embarrassment for the government with the tenders breaking down after travelling a few meters after the inauguration," he said, taking a dig at the minister.

Sidhu, the local government minister, yesterday hit out at the Akalis for allegedly "looting" the state by facilitating individuals in outdoor advertisement and cable businesses.

He had also alleged the previous SAD-BJP regime for "revenue leakage" by framing "toothless" law pertaining to outdoor advertising.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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First Published: Aug 13 2017 | 8:55 PM IST

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