Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Punjab Convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur on Saturday has criticized the Parkash Singh Badal led government for indulging in wasteful expenditure especially when the fiscal health of the state was bad. Chhotepur said at time when the Badal government was unable to disburse monthly salaries to its own employees of several departments on time spending on luxury SUVs in the name of security was absurd.Chhotepur was referring to a report published in an English national daily that highlighted how the cash- strapped Punjab was planning to splurge money on a fleet of bulletproof Toyota Land Cruisers for the Chief Minister’s convoy to replace Mitsubishi Monteros that are used at present.
The report also said each Land Cruiser is likely to cost more than Rs 1.3 crore, not including the bulletproofing, which will send the cost per vehicle even higher. Chhotepur said the SAD-BJP alliance government should be ashamed of such mindless expenditure on the luxury cars when the debt ridden farmers are committing suicides all across Punjab everyday due to cotton crop failure. The Punjab government has so far given no adequate monetary relief to the Punjab farmers who have been agitating for several months after the failure of their cotton crop due to whitefly attack, said Chhotepur.