Drawing a parallel between Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal and a Chameleon, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal today said that former is in habit of changing his colour sooner than later by reverting from his statements time and again.Mr. Badal was replying to media queries here today at information centre after paying obeisance at Sri Darbar Sahib along with his wife union food processing minister Mrs. Harsimrat Kaur Badal. In a scathing attack on Kejriwal he said the AAP leader has deceived the people of both Delhi and Punjab by giving a statement in favour of SYL in Punjab and then sided with Haryana on SYL construction by filing an affidavit through his advocate. “Similarly, the ‘Piau’ at Gurdwara Sri Sees Ganj Sahib New Delhi was demolished at the instructions of AAP MLA Ms. Alka Lamba and now, Kejriwal is holding Municipal Corporation Delhi responsible for this unfortunate incident”, he added.Condemning the incident of shoe hurling on Kejriwal, Deputy CM said this type of protest is highly condemnable in a democratic nation, adding he said Kejriwal should mend his ways otherwise the way people are getting fed-up of his mean tactics it would be difficult for him to face the public.Replying to a query regarding completion of ongoing development works in Amritsar, Mr. Badal said government has been spending Rs. 1000 crore on the development of holy city. He said people might be facing some difficulties due to the ongoing construction works but within three months they would witness its beautification. He said most of the works including widening of roads and BRTS would be completed by August 2016.
Describing the Bhagat Puran Singh Sehat Bima Yojna as a pioneer initiative of SAD-BJP government, Mr. Badal said Punjab has become the leading state in the country for initiating unique welfare schemes for farmers. He said that Punjab Government had already been providing Rs. 6000 Crore annually to Powercom in lieu of supply of free power to farmers and now Punjab is going to provide interest free crop loan of Rs. 50,000 for one year to farmers besides providing health insurance cover of Rs. 50,000 and accidental insurance of Rs. 5 Lakh to them. He also demanded to link MSP of foodgrains with wholesale price index to save farmers from present agrarian crisis. Expressing profound grief over the tragic fire incident in a temple of Kerala, Mr. Badal asked Secretary, SGPC to ensure proper disaster management arrangements at main Gurdwara complexes to avoid any such unfortunate incident. On a query regarding imposition of excise duty on jewelers, Mr. Badal that he would soon meet the union finance minister in this regard adding deputy CM said he himself was not in favour of this excise duty on jewelers.Prominent among others present on the occasion included Veer Singh Lopoke, Rajinder Singh Mehta, Varun Roojam DC Amritsar and Amar Singh Chahal, Police Commissioner.