Demanding imposition of President's Rule in Punjab, Congress today said the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is putting out 'misleading advertisement' in newspapers in order to save its government in the state and union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal's chair in the union cabinet.
"The Union Cabinet's expansion is going to take place soon. The Badals are scared about Harsimrat Kaur Badal being dropped from it. So, in order to impress the centre, the state government has given such advertisements in the newspapers so that the minister's chair can be saved," Senior Congress leader Sunil Jakhar told reporters here today.
On Friday, major newspapers had advertisement published by the state government listing out the schemes launched in the state and claimed NDA government gave Rs 35263 crores to Punjab in two years.
Jakhar claimed that the advertisement is "misleading and deceiving" and said 80 per cent of the schemes listed had been approved by the erstwhile UPA government. He claimed that the UPA government had even disbursed money for the schemes.
"In the advertisement, the central government has been thanked for roads projects worth Rs 19,891 crore. However, on March 18, in reply to my question in the Assembly, the government had said that the centre provided Rs 1600 crore for maintenance of roads and national highways while Rs 223 crore was provided for other schemes.
"Further, the advertisement claims that Rs 3915 crore were provided under AMRUT scheme for 16 cities and Rs 500 crore for Smart City project. However, in a January 28 letter, the centre stated that Rs 62 crore was released for AMRUT scheme. Similarly, in a March 10 letter, the centre stated that Rs two crore was provided to every Smart City," said Jakhar.
Presenting government documents to substantiate his claims, Jakhar said he would request the party high command to seek imposition of President's Rule in the state so that the taxpayers money is not wasted and they are not fooled by the current government.
