Lashing out at the Akalis and the BJP for their shameless criticism of his government’s two-month rule, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said they should be ashamed of such brazen lies, which were completely belied by the actual facts and ground realities.In a hard-hitting statement, a spokesperson in the Chief Minister’s Office said Captain Amarinder was shocked at the shamelessness with which the Akalis, led by their patriarch and former chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, and their alliance partners - the BJP, were resorting to blatant falsehoods in a desperate bid to befool the people.Their criticism, said the Chief Minister, was particularly impertinent in view of the fact that it was their misrule of 10 years that had plunged the state to such abysmal depths of despair on all fronts, with a mega debt burden compounding the problems of the Congress government.Yet, despite the mess it had inherited, his government had been successful in bringing the state out of the throes of devastation to put it back on the path to progress, said Captain Amarinder, pointing to the massive successes they had notched up on all major fronts, including elimination of the drugs scourge, industrial revival which will lead to generation of jobs, steps to waive off the farm loans, abolition of the VIP culture, educational and transport reforms, among others.
The drugs mafia was gasping for breath while industries and business houses were making a beeline for investment in the state, the Chief Minister pointing out, adding that the situation was in sharp contrast to the one prevailing till two months back, when drug smugglers and peddlers ruled the roost and industries were fleeing the state in hordes.The Chief Minister referred to the smooth procurement of wheat, with the highest ever payments released to farmers in April, to point out the extent to which the Akalis and the BJP were stooping with their blatant falsehoods, while completing ignoring hard facts that were on record.Further, said the Chief Minister, the last two months have seen a marked improvement on the law and order front, with the common people of the state feeling much more safe and secure than they had felt over the past decade.The Commission set up to ascertain the farm debt quantum and to work out modalities for its waiver was expected to come out with its report soon, to pave the way for total waiver of the farmers’ loans, to which he was personally committed, Captain Amarinder said.Referring to the sacrilege cases, he said his government had not only set up a new Commission on Inquiry but was mulling steps to enhance the punishment in such cases, based the opinion given a few days ago by the state Advocate General on amendment to Section 295 IPC.
Negating another of Badal’s criticism, the Chief Minister said his government had already ordered a freeze on all 'kurki', which the former chief minister was either not aware of or had deliberately chosen to ignore in order to mislead the people. So obsessed was he with criticizing the government that the Akali supremo did not even know that the Congress government had not only reiterated its commitment to fulfilling all poll promises but had initiated time-bound steps to implement the bulk of them, said Captain Amarinder. The fact that this has been done despite the financial crunch faced by his government underlined their commitment to meeting every single promise made to the people of Punjab, the Chief Minister pointed out.Captain Amarinder urged Badal and his associates to stop criticizing the government for the sake of criticism and, instead, to join hands in bringing the state back on the path to recovery. Considering that the people of Punjab were suffering because of the SAD-BJP misdeeds, this was the least they could do now, the Chief Minister added.