Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Union government for raising cost on Punjab for the deployment of central forces to fight Pakistan based terrorists during the Pathankot terror attack in the first week of January. The centre government has sent a bill of Rs. 6.35 crore to Punjab as payment for the paramilitary forces deployed during the Pathankot terror attack. A letter dated January 20 says the union ministry of home affairs has asked Punjab to pay for deployment of 20 companies of paramilitary forces between January 2 and January 27 in Pathankot and nearby areas. Apart from this the MHA has also directed the Punjab government to bear transportation charges. AAP senior leaders Himmat Singh Shergill and Youth wing president Harjot Singh Bains have questioned the Modi government if Punjab should be paying the cost of deploying central forces within its territory even if they have been called in to fight Pakistan based terrorists.
Shergill said it also reflected poorly on the Parkash Singh Badal led government in Punjab which so far has not been able to vociferously flag the issue against the Modi government to which Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is an ally. " Prior to the formation of the BJP government at the centre Badal used to claim that once Modi becomes the prime minister Punjab would get truck loads of money from the centre government. However on the contrary the BJP government is seeking money from Punjab for fighting Pakistan terrorists on the soil of the border state", said Shergill.Shergill said it would be interesting to know if the centre government had also sought payment from the Maharashtra government for the rescue operation the security forces carried in Mumbai during the 26/11 terror attack by the Pakistan based terrorists. The AAP leaders said the deployment of "the paramilitary units were in national interest and expenditure thereon should not be billed to the state government".