Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Partap Singh Bajwa on Friday said the SAD-BJP alliance was adopting double standards and misleading the people of the state on a special industrial package to hill states.
In a statement, Bajwa said the memorandum submitted by SAD-BJP leaders to the governor for a special industrial package was an attempt to hide their own follies and put the blame on the Congress.
He added that the only aim (of the SAD-BJP) to raise a hue and cry over the special package to hill states was to divert public attention from vital issues such as the involvement of Akali ministers in the drug racket, deteriorating law and order, and the poor economic condition of the state.
"As the president of the Punjab Congress, I made vigorous efforts to get the special industrial package for Punjab and also met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi," said Bajwa, adding that SAD-BJP leaders who were now shedding crocodile tears had never supported him on proposals mooted by him. The PPCC president said chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had never submitted any written proposal to the Centre in this regard. "These issues would not be sorted on the streets," he added.
Bajwa said he had sought an appointment from the PM to take up the issue of the special industrial package for Punjab and was expected to meet him along with Congress MPs and the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader in the near future. "When I meet the Prime Minister, I will also apprise him of politics being played by Akalis to escape the CBI net in the drug racket," he added.
{{/usCountry}}Bajwa said he had sought an appointment from the PM to take up the issue of the special industrial package for Punjab and was expected to meet him along with Congress MPs and the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader in the near future. "When I meet the Prime Minister, I will also apprise him of politics being played by Akalis to escape the CBI net in the drug racket," he added.
{{/usCountry}}Bajwa said Punjab was never discriminated against by the Centre in the matter of development funds and projects. It was the NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in which the SAD and BJP were partners, that discriminated against Punjab while giving a special industrial package to hill states, including Himachal Pradesh, in 2003, the PPCC president claimed.