Cong govt used lockdown to loot state exchequer: Punjab BJP chief

Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma on Tuesday alleged that the Congress government in the state miserably failed to provide relief to people during the lockdown

Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma on Tuesday alleged that the Congress government in the state miserably failed to provide relief to people during the lockdown and its ministers and officers instead used the period to loot the state exchequer by selling illicit liquor.

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Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, Sharma said chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh has proved to be a failure. “Rather than leading from the front in a war-like situation, the CM was seen making formal appearances through the media by chairing meetings of officials in seven-star facilities at his residence.”

Unlike other states where the CMs were hitting the ground, Amarinder was seen nowhere in the fight against Covid-19, he claimed.

Citing the recent impasse between the cabinet ministers and chief secretary Karan Avtar Singh on the state excise policy, Sharma said the incident reflected how greed has seeped into the functioning of the government.

“The bureaucrats and the ministers were competing with each other in a race of looting the people of Punjab,” he alleged.

“The ministers claimed that the chief secretary’s son had interest in liquor business while the bureaucrats said the Congress leaders were involved in illegal sale of liquor,” he said.

He also demanded a CBI probe into the seed scam recently busted by state vigilance bureau. “Since the main accused is a close associate of a Congress minister, the government machinery will go to any extent to save the main accused,” he added.