Patiala lagged in development due to vested interests: Bhagwant Mann

Asserting that despite being a power centre of Punjab for a long, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday said Patiala has lagged in development due to vested interests and greed of the successive rulers.

Asserting that despite being a power centre of Punjab for a long, chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday said Patiala has lagged in development due to vested interests and greed of the successive rulers. He said that those in power decorated their palaces at the cost of the dilapidation of the city.

Mann said that those in power decorated their palaces at the cost of the dilapidation of the city. (HT File Photo)

CM also took several potshots on former CM Capt Amarinder Singh for lack of development in the city.

CM was in Patiala to review the progress of development projects worth ₹167 crore in the city. “Patiala was known as the ‘city of gardens’ but due to apathy, the city lost its sheen. The rulers of Punjab who hailed from Patiala remained callous about the development of the city,” Mann said.

Mann said that the work on the majority of projects including the construction of a new bus stand, roads, drains channelization and beautification project, construction of a digital library at Musafir Memorial Central state library and others have been hanging in a fire for a long.

“Our government has put these projects on a fast track. The work on the bus stand, which is being constructed to cope with the futuristic needs, will be completed by April 1,” Mann said.

The chief minister said that 93% of work on the bus stand, which will have the facility of a lift, ramp and stairs, has already been completed.

“Once operational, around 1,500 buses will ply from this bus stand. The existing bus stand will be used for city bus services. A shuttle bus service to various parts of the city will be introduced,” the CM said.

The chief minister said that ₹20 crore is being spent for extending the 24x7 canal water supply to the city residents adding that work for channelising and beautifying of model town drain will be completed by March 31. “Rajindra Tank will be developed into a tourism spot. Likewise, ₹8.26 crore is being spent on the digitalisation of the Musafir Memorial Central State Library,” Mann added.

The Chief Minister also announced that the work on all these projects will be completed in a time-bound manner. The CM was accompanied by health minister Dr Balbir Singh and horticulture minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra, MLAs Ajitpal Singh Kohli, Gurlal Ghanour and Neena Mittal and other officials.

Opponents envious of a common man’s son governing state: Mann

Ferozepur: Traditional political parties are envious of me because they are not able to digest that the son of a common man is governing the state effectively, CM Bhagwant Mann said in Abohar after disbursing compensation to the flood-affected residents.

During a function, Mann said that the people of the state have lost their faith in the traditional political parties because of their anti-people and anti-Punjab stance.

“The wise and brave people of the state had ousted these parties during the 2022 assembly polls due to which they are frustrated now. The leaders of these parties are now ganging up with each other to mislead the people. These leaders plundered the resources of the state for their vested political interests,” Mann said.

The CM bemoaned that it was unfortunate that the flood caused a lot of damage in the Fazilka district in 2020, but except for lip service, the then government did nothing to give relief.

“Floods caused major damage in the district, but instead of extending a helping hand to affected people, the then state government delayed the matter of compensation to further aggrieve the situation of the people in distress,” Mann said.