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Both Cong, AAP govts pushed Punjab into debt: Sukhbir
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal accused the previous Congress government and the current Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dispensation of pushing Punjab into debt, adding that all development works had come to halt in the last seven-and-a-half years.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal accused the previous Congress government and the current Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dispensation of pushing Punjab into debt, adding that all development works had come to halt in the last seven-and-a-half years.
Addressing the media after paying tributes to Shaheed Karnail Singh Issru, the hero of Goa liberation, Sukhbir said the state’s debt has risen from ₹1.80 lakh crore in 2017 (when SAD was in power) to ₹2.80 lakh crore during Congress rule, with the AAP government accumulating an additional ₹80,000 crore in just two-and-a-half years.
“The AAP government prioritised cheap propaganda over development, spending ₹1,000 crore annually on advertisements. They ruined the health infrastructure by closing rural dispensaries to open Mohalla Clinics, which have failed to give any medical facility to people,” said Sukhbir.
He also hit out at the government over stalled road projects and failure to create new infrastructure such as thermal plants. “In contrast, SAD government created road infrastructure worth ₹30,000 crore, turned Punjab into a power surplus state, and introduced social welfare schemes such as SC Scholarship scheme, “atta-dal” and “shagun”,” the SAD chief said.
Sukhbir further criticised the Mann government, stating that its tenure was marked by scams. SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami, party leaders Dr Daljit Singh Cheema, Maheshinder Singh Grewal, Yadwinder Yadu and YAD president Sarabjit Singh Jhinjar were also present on the occasion.
