Punjab doesn’t not need ‘lollipops’ but roadmap for people’s welfare: Sidhu

Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu hit out at the “lollipop culture” practiced just two months before the state elections

On a day the Charanjit Singh Channi-led Congress government slashed power rates and approved a hike in dearness allowance for government employees, Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu hit out at the “lollipop culture” practiced just two months before the state elections.

Sidhu said that before talking about Diwali gift, one must tell who would take the state out of this quagmire and the roadmap.

Sidhu said that Punjab did not need “lollipops” but a definite roadmap for its resurgence and welfare of its people. “How will the welfare of Punjab be achieved? There are two ways. Either you give lollipop, give this free and that free. You do whatever you want for four years and nine months, carry out excesses and then give everything free. Is your only aim to come to power and form the government by telling lies and making 500 promises or work for welfare of people,” he said at an event organised by the newly formed Sanyukt Hindu Mahasabha here. The mahasabha is headed by Congress leader and former MLA Ashwani Sekhri.

The PPCC president, who has been miffed over senior appointments and kept the Channi government on tenterhooks, made his first public appearance at the programme. Though Sidhu did not name anyone, his speech is being seen in Congress circles as a direct attack on Channi and his decisions.

Channi was appointed as the CM after his predecessor Capt Amarinder Singh resigned following a revolt by Sidhu and several ministers and legislators. However, the change of guard did not end the rift in the state Congress as Sidhu and Channi, who is the first SC chief minister of Punjab, are not on the same page on several issues.

Sidhu also asked about the resources for such announcements and cited the ₹5-lakh crore debt burden on the state. “If someone says the state exchequer is flush with funds, then ETT teachers should be paid ₹50,000 salary a month, employees regularised and pension given to those who have not been getting it since 2004,” the Punjab Congress chief said, reiterating that he would continue to show the mirror and not let anyone deviate from issues.

He said that before talking about Diwali gift, one must tell who would take the state out of this quagmire and the roadmap.

Channi, who had last month claimed that the government coffers were full, termed Monday’s announcements as “Diwali gift” for people of the state.

Earlier, the Mahasabha, a grouping of representatives of different Hindu organisations from across the state, demanded post-matric scholarships for children from poor families from the Hindu community and electricity for small shopkeepers at par with the industry at ₹5 per unit. “The idea behind the outfit is to create a platform for Hindus community so that their voice is heard,” Sekhri said.

Hollow promise, says AAP

AAP national spokesperson and Punjab affairs co-incharge Raghav Chadha on Monday said that the hollow promise of cheap electricity in Punjab is an electoral stunt of “dramebaaz” chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi as the electricity rates have been reduced only till March 31, 2022.

In a statement, Chadha said that if the people of Punjab get deceived by this electoral stunt of Congress, then electricity rates will get expensive again five months later. “Channi’s promise is like Capt Amarinder’s fake promise of employment and there is no difference between them,” he claimed, stating that if this is not an election stunt, the Congress should make electricity rates cheaper in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra where it is in power. He said that Channi was terrified by Arvind Kejriwal’s bijli guarantee, due to which he has made false promises to the people on the issue of electricity.