The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today said it would force the Congress government to explain why it had betrayed all sections of society in its last budget session starting from today even as it asked Punjab Congress President Sunil Jakhar to explain why he was trying to befool the people by indulging in a sham protest against the Governor’s Address which had been prepared by his own government.
The SAD said there could not be a red carpet welcome for the Governor and a ‘gherao’ side by side by the same party, the SAD asked the Punjab Congress to explain which event it’s party legislators would attend.
Addressing a press conference here, former minister Bikram Singh Majithia said be it farmers, khet mazdoor, youth, scheduled castes and backward castes, government employees or trade and industry, each and every section had been befooled by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. “The Chief Minister not only sent forms to every house promising in writing to fulfill the promises being made to the people but also took a holy vow in the name of the holy Gutka Sahab on the sacred land of Talwandi Sabo”.
Mr Bikram Majithia said “we will ask the Chief Minister to explain why he betrayed the annadaata by promising to waive off loans taken from nationalized and private banks as well as cooperative societies and Arhatiyas when he did not have any intention of fulfilling this promise”. He said this betrayal had indebted the peasantry even further. “Farmers did not pay their loan installments as they were confident of a loan waiver. The same farmers then faced persecution with recovery proceedings being launched against them”.
Mr Majithia said similarly the youth had been backstabbed with government jobs being abolished instead of being increased during the last four years. “The promised unemployment allowance of Rs 2,500 per month was also not given to them”. He said similarly lakhs of scheduled caste students suffered because the government did not release the SC scholarship fee. “The chief Minister even gave a clean chit to SC Welfare minister Sadhu Singh Dharmsot who indulged in the SC Scholarship scam through chief secretary Vinnie Mahajan”.
The SAD leader said the chief secretary as well as Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta had also gone against the state’s interests by defending gangster Mukhtiar Ansari who was being housed in Punjab on trivial charges and not being repatriated to Uttar Pradesh. He said the Punjab government had even hired a lawyer for Rs 50 lakh in the Supreme Court to ensure Ansari was not deported to Uttar Pradesh where he was wanted for trial in several cases. “It is clear that all this is being done with a view to the 2022 polls to intimidate the opposition”. He said this had led to a serious impact on the law and order situation with even Congressmen becoming targets of gangsters as was seen in the case of the shooting of Congress leader Gurlal Bhalwan in Faridkot.