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Congress, SAD ‘colluding’ with BJP to destabilise Punjab govt: Arvind Kejriwal
The Delhi chief minister and his Punjab counterpart launched projects worth ₹1,125 crore for Bathinda
Chief minister Bhagwant Mann and his Delhi counterpart and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday accused the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) of colluding with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre government to destabilise the Punjab government.
Addressing a ‘Vikas Kranti’ rally at Maur, 45 km from Bathinda district headquarters, Kejriwal said the previous regimes of the Congress and SAD were synonyms with corruption.
“All opposition parties are upset due to the growing popularity of the AAP due to several pro-people initiatives taken by the Bhagwant Mann government. They are all huddled to defame the AAP government and conspiring to derail the developmental activities introduced by the Mann government in less than two years. Corruption was rampant earlier,” the Delhi CM said.
Elated with the impressive gathering, the AAP chief gave a clarion call to help the party win all 13 Lok Sabha seats of Punjab.
“The Centre government is indulged in disrupting the development of Punjab by stopping the Rural Development Fund (RDF) and suspending healthcare funds meant to be spent on Aam Aadmi Clinics. Now, hurdles are being created to stop the latest initiative of the state government of providing free pilgrimage to religious sites. But Mann government is determined to carry on with all these initiatives,” further added Kejriwal.
“If you stop someone from offering prayers, then God will not forgive you,” Kejriwal added.
Mann, while addressing the rally, also accused the Centre of stopping funds for Aam Aadmi Clinics. “Besides AACs, the funds for Rural Development Funds (RDF) worth ₹5,500 crore have also been stopped to disallow the state from constructing roads in rural areas. Had these funds been provided to the state government then a network of 67000 kilometres of road links to villages would have been duly constructed,” Mann said.
CM said that the Union government has stalled the ‘Mukh Mantri Teerth Yatra’ Scheme by not giving the trains to the state government. He said that the trains scheduled on December 7 and 15 are not being provided to the state despite giving payment in advance. “The sole motive is to deprive people of paying obeisance at revered places,” he said.
Mann asked the people to question the silence of BJP leaders Amarinder Singh and Sunil Jakhar on the “anti-Punjab” stance of the BJP.
But the AAP national convener assured the gathering that the Punjab chief minister is committed to taking people to Nanded Sahib and Patna Sahib and will find a way to do it.
On the occasion, Kejriwal announced a ‘package’ of ₹1,125 crore for the multi-dimensional development of Bathinda Lok Sabha constituency.
Several of the projects under the ‘package’ like the ring road, construction of two overbridges, a multipurpose auditorium, and a novel project of green building of Bathinda Municipal Corporation are either work in progress or approved and the budget announced already.
A new bus stand project of ₹100 crore will help Bathinda in streamlining traffic management and a cardiac care block (CCB) of ₹16 crore to be built at Civil Hospital is funded by the Centre government.
Mann said the new projects will usher in unprecedented development in the region.
“For the last several decades, two families from different political parties were running the show. But electors reposed faith in AAP and gave it a mandate for governance. After routing the entire Badal clan in the last assembly polls, I urge you to wipe out politically the remaining member of the family,” Mann urged voters of the constituency, targeting Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who is MP from Bathinda LS seat.
Sidelights:
MLAs Vijay Singla and Amit Rattan invited to rally
Battling graft accusations, Mansa MLA Vijay Singla was invited to sit on the stage at the rally, while MLA Amit Rattan found space in the VVIP gallery. Singla had to resign as health minister last year after the CM himself publicly announced his involvement in corruption, while Amit Rattan was arrested by the vigilance bureau this year and is out on bail.
Tight security detail
The rally witnessed unprecedented security arrangements. Roads leading to the rally were heavily barricaded and only the rallygoers were allowed to take the routes from different districts. After the rally, though there was no traffic management leading to chaos.
