NDA at Centre necessary for Punjab's development: Badal

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said an NDA government at the Centre was necessary for the growth and development of the state.
Badal criticised the UPA government for "deliberately discriminating" against opposition-ruled states in terms of disbursement of grants, thus "stalling development".
"Congress is making efforts to destabilise Punjab economically, and it is even bent upon breaking the backbone of agriculture," he said, addressing a public gathering here.
The Centre was fixing the rates of agricultural input materials like pesticides, insecticides, diesel and fertilizers without taking consulting the states resulting in the increase of rates, he said.
With no corresponding increase announced in Minimum Support Price of the output, it was upon the states to bear the whopping expenditure of farmers, he said.

To get rid of this, and the mass unemployment and un-controllable inflation, it is necessary for the NDA to come to power at the Centre, he said.

Badal said the recent elections had almost proved that Congress would be decimated in the country in the near future.
Congress never regained power in any state, where it was defeated twice in a row, and thus it would never come to power in Punjab, he said.
Badal said the massive rally planned at Jagraon on December 21 was postponed due to inclement weather especially dense fog enveloping the state, adding that the fresh date for rally would be announced soon.