Chandigarh December 17 : The Shiromani Akali Dal today questioned former chief minister and new president, of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, Captain Amarinder Singh as to how he will be able to solve drug menace in Punjab in four months which he could not do in five years when he was the chief minister for five years. This only shows just how desperate and pathetic are the attempts which he has been driven to make for regaining some of his lost political relevance.”
Secretary General of Shiromani Akali Dal, Mr. S.S.Dhindsa said here today that the promises made by Capt Singh at the Congress rally had vindicated the stand of the Chief Minister Sardar Parkash Singh Badal and the Deputy Chief Minister Sardar Sukhbir Singh Badal on the fiscal health of the state. “Your promises prove that even you believe what our CM and Deputy CM have been saying all along: that the state government has enough funds to carry out all the development plans we announce, and to spare for providing liberal facilities and even doles, especially to the poor and thebackward classes,” said the Shiromani Akali Dal Secretary General.
The SAD also reiterated that that the drug problem in Punjab was “the unholy progeny and legacy” of successive Congress regimes in the state and this was proved by Captain Amarinder Singh’s own admission, claims and allegations against his own party colleagues including Partap Singh Bajwa on their links with drug and terror operatives “So now when Captain shares the stage with Bajwa while promising to eradicate drug menace in four months, people can’t decide whether it is more pathetic or funny. After all, it was Captain who had openly accused of masterminding and promoting drug smuggling and terror-linked crimes in Punjab , ” said Mr Dhindsa
Mr Dhindsa was referring to the letter written by Captain Singh to the Congress president Sonia Gandhi and “leaked” to the media in January 2014, in which the Captain had stated that the drug menace in Punjab was not only prevalent during the Congress regimes but was in fact created, sponsored and patronized by prominent Congress leaders like Bajwa. Amarinder had produced detailed proofs on how Bajwa was the king pin of drug mafias operating in the state during the Congress governments tenures.
“But as Chief Minister, Captain Singh not only allowed Bajwa to go scott free but his government actually provided an official umbrella to carry out massive drug smuggling and supply operations under the illegitimate cover of official security. These are Captain Singh’s credentials on the issue,” said Mr Dhindsa. About the dichotomy between Congress promises and its allegations on the state’s poor fiscal health, the SAD General Secretary said that the Congress continued to believe that the Punjabis were as uneducated as the Congress had always wanted them to remain and therefore they could not understand the economic implications of his promises. “On the one hand Amarinder declares that Punjab is truly bankrupt today while on the other he goes ahead to promises doles which only a government in a sound state of fiscal health can think of providing. If the state were bankrupt, as claimed by Amarinder Singh, then where is the secret treasure from where he could draw funds to implement fulfil those promises like giving more liberal Shagun schemes, higher salaries to employees and pensions to the senior citizens, free power to Dalit families and a host of other doles.
“It is the SAD-BJP government which had always maintained and proved that the state is in good fiscal position and can provide all the facilities which people have a right to expect. And we are the ones, not the Congress day dreamers, who have always shown the courage to make and fulfil these promises. And we are the ones who will continue to do so in future,” said Mr Dhindsa.