Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today rejected the election manifesto of Shiromani Akali Dal) saying it is pack of lies and crude reminder of unaccomplished promises of previous elections of 2007 and 2012.AAP campaign committee chairman Bhagwant Mann in a statement said that Sukhbir Badal was more popular as bluff master than the president of SAD. He said that Sukhbir Badals’ lies were nailed time and again and he still thinks that he would be-fool people with fake promises. This government had two terms of five years each to fulfill the promises, SAD had made in 2007 and 2012. The alliance government has messed up with economy of state, made state bankrupt and people the beggars, said Mann.He stated that the so called vision document of Sukhbir Badal has not shown any road map to fulfill the promises made with farmers, dalits, youth and women. Before telling farmers to waive of their loans, Sukhbir Badal needs to explain why 30,000 farmers had committed suicide during ten years rule of SAD-BJP alliance. The crops were never procured on time and farmers were left at the mercy of ‘ahrtiyas’ and private dealers. What was the need for farmers to end their lives, had he (Sukhbir Badal) fulfilled previous promises of loan waiver and remunerated price for their crops?
Mann said that Sukhbir Badal had promised 10 lakh jobs for youth in the 2007 and 2012 election manifestos. By this count there should not be any unemployment in the state but this remained a most neglected area. The industry either shifted to other states or shut down, the recruitment for government jobs to fill vacancies was mired by scams and not even a single job was offered to eligible youth. Rather relatives of Akali and BJP leaders were recruited through backdoor by outsourcing jobs. Never before unemployed youth self immolated and climbed on water tanks to demand jobs. Mann said that in 2012 Sukhbir Badal had promised to give lap tops to all students. He told youth to pay the unemployment allowance. Interestingly, these two promises are now missing from the SAD manifesto and included in the manifesto released by Congress party. “That is why I always say SAD and Congress are substitute of each other, not an alternative for people. AAP would provide the alternative to people of Punjab”, he added.Mann said that the welfare pensions and money of shogun scheme was never paid in time and in many cases Punjab and Haryana High Court had intervened to ensure payment is made to beneficiaries. Recently the High Court had frozen government account to make Rs. 300 crore dues of pensioners. He reminded Badal that dues of 6th pay commission paid to employees even after five years. Punjab paid Rs.250 per month old age, widow and handicapped for nine years which was lowest in the country, he said.
Mann said tha Atta-Dal scheme for poor was a big disaster as no provision of funding was made in the state budget. The money loaned from corporations for the purpose was never returned. The PUNSUP which advanced over Rs.40 crores has become bankrupt. The scheme was kept suspended for over a year and resumed recently due to elections. He said that BPL families were humiliated and forced to live below poverty line as no steps were taken to empower them.Mann further said that the cottage industry which was backbone of Punjab’s growth was shut down completely during the ten years of SAD-BJP rule so expecting any miracles by them in the next five years would be foolishness.AAP leader said that SYL issue was creation of SAD and Congress and they are not interested to resolve the inter-state issues. Unless both of these parties are shunted out of Punjab, the solution to SYL canal issue would not be possible. Sukhbir Badal had promised to build point to point Chandigarh-Amritsar Express Highway, via Phagwara and wasted lot of funds on surveys and presentations. He announced to start Metro in Ludhiana and Mohali, stadiums in each village, water buses, industrial hubs and blah blah blah. All these promises proved gossips, Mann said.