Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said that the meeting of the state Congress leadership with Union Home Minister P Chidambaram to raise the issue of vendetta cases being registered by the SAD-BJP alliance was just a “political stunt”.Talking to the media persons on the sidelines of Sangat Darshan programme here today, the Chief Minister said that the state Congress leadership was unnecessarily making a hue and cry over the issue and their meeting with Union Home Minister at Chandigarh on Friday over it was just a gimmick. He said that actually in the absence of any tangible issue against the state government the Congress leadership has baffled due to which they were resorting to such cheap tactics. Badal said that as against 20,000 cases of vendetta alleged by the state Congress leadership, it had been able to bring to their notice just 39 cases against the Congress workers, which too had nothing to do with vendetta. He said that actually the Congress leaders were trying to mislead the people by raising such issues but the people of the state were wise enough to understand their dubious move and would not pay any heed towards such cheap tactics as the entire state Congress leadership today stood fully exposed of its doublespeak. Replying to a query regarding the opposition of construction of memorial regarding Operation Blue Star by the Congress leadership, the Chief Minister said that it was a part of the strategy of “pide and rule” which had been a policy of the Congress from last many decades to attain power in the state. He said that the state government was committed for maintaining communal harmony, peace and amity in the state but the Congress leaders were bent upon to disturb the congenial atmosphere in the state by unnecessarily raising this issue for taking political mileage out of it thereby creating panic in the minds of people.Asked to comment on the victory of SAD-BJP candidate in Dasuya by-poll, the Chief Minister said that the spectacular by-poll result was a triumph of transparent, pro-people and effective governance of alliance over the pisive politics adopted by the Congress party. Badal also said that he would undertake a thanks giving tour of the Dasuya assembly segment from July 26 to 29 onwards for expressing his gratitude to the voters of the area. Lashing out at the Center government, the Chief Minister said that despite of enormous contribution of the state in making country surplus in food production the successive Congress governments at the Centre have meted out step motherly treatment to Punjab. Badal said that the worst thing was that the state has been deprived of its legitimate share in waters of river despite of the fact the state was a rightful owner for it under the settled principle of Riparian law. He also said that the Union government frame policies to deliberately exclude the state from getting its benefits. The Chief Minister said that due to such policies the industry and agriculture of the state was on the brink of economic disaster.The Chief Minister reiterated that owing to the excessive centralization of the policies by the Union government the federal structure enshrined in the constitution of the country has been ruined. He emphasized that the need of the hour was that the Union Government must strengthen federalism in the country by increasing devolution of Central funds to states from the present 32% to 50%. Badal made it clear that violation of the federal principle would not only weaken the states but would also hamper smooth relations between the Center and the states.On a query regarding the supply of potable drinking water to the people of the state, the Chief Minister said that to ensure it was the top priority of the SAD-BJP Government. He said that the state government would spend Rs 12 crore on extensive research in this regard adding that experts from IIT Rurkee and BARC were already undertaking research on the contents of water being supplied to the people from all the sources so that there impurities, if any, could be detected in it. Likewise Badal said that the state government was also in the process of analyzing sample of water from all the villages across the state, the report of which would be complied within two months. Similarly he said that emphasis was also being laid down to clean the water of rivers in the state along with that of ponds in the villages. Earlier addressing the gathering of people he said that the survey being conducted by the state government to know the problems of the people in the area had produced desired results as they have been able to understand the needs of the people in a better manner. He also announced to increase the government assistance to the poor people for building a new house from Rs 35000 to Rs 45000 and for repairing the old house from Rs 10000 to Rs 15000.At village Raniwala the Chief Minister also launched the pilot project of disbursement of pensions through the Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) scheme under which cash benefits of welfare schemes would be disbursed to the beneficiaries directly in their bank accounts. Likewise at village Panniwala Fatta, Badal also started the “Greening Punjab Campaign” for Sri Muktsar Sahib District by planting a sapling.Prominent amongst those present on the occasion included Lok Sabha Member Sher Singh Ghubaya, Principal Secretary Social Security R Venkatratnam and Special Principal Secretaries to the Chief Minister KJS Cheema and Gurkirat Kirpal Singh.