Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today flayed former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and the SAD for allegedly unleashing a negative, anti- people agenda with their misleading statements and baseless charges against the Congress government.
Categorically rejecting the charges levelled by Akalis that the Congress government backtracked from its promises, the chief minister blamed the party squarely for the fiscal mess in the state.
"The financial crisis prevailing in the state was a result of the ill-conceived and corrupt policies of the erstwhile SAD-BJP government," said the chief minister, adding that this, coupled with the delay in GST contribution from Centre, had led to the delay in salary disbursement of government employees this month.
"The Badals and their associates were engaged in brazen loot during the decade of their rule, leaving the government exchequer reeling under an unprecedented debt and had the audacity now to blame the Congress government for the crisis prevailing in the state," Singh said, hitting out at Sukhbir for earlier alleging non-performance on the part of the government over the past six months.
In a statement, the chief minister said not only had his government implemented most of the promises made by the Congress in its manifesto but had done so in the face of severe financial problems.
Notwithstanding the economic crisis in the state, his (Congress) government had fulfilled all its major promises, from social welfare schemes to drugs elimination to industrial development and waiver of farm loans, he said.
The chief minister lambasted Sukhbir for allegedly continuously misguiding the farmers over the issues of debt waiver and 'kurki' abolition, accusing him of playing with their lives to further his own political agenda.
"By negating the hard facts and figures on employment, the SAD president was also trying to undermine the confidence of the youth, who were suffering the consequences of the Badal government's total failure to protect them from the menace of drugs and unemployment," he said.
Bereft of any serious issue to criticise the Congress government, the Akalis had adopted a destructive approach and were resorting to unfounded allegations in a desperate bid to malign his government and its excellent performance since taking over in March this year, said the chief minister.
"Sukhbir Singh Badal and the SAD have unleashed a negative, anti-people agenda with their misleading statements and baseless charges against the Congress government," he said.
The Badals were trying to rake up non-issues to create a platform to take their political ambitions forward, Singh alleged, adding that their entire focus was on misleading the people of Punjab and on diverting public attention from their own misdeeds of the past 10 years.
That, he said, was the reason for the Akalis to resort to street politics instead of playing the role of a constructive opposition in the interest of the people of Punjab.
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