Chandigarh: The Punjab Congress on Monday ridiculed the Aam Aadmi Party govt’s claim that it fulfilled all its promises within four years, saying the period was instead marked by “loot, betrayal and wasted opportunities”.Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring alleged that the AAP govt misled the people of the state by projecting exaggerated achievements. He claimed that the last four years saw Punjab’s resources “exploited, robbed and diverted for fighting elections in other states”.“The AAP govt should also claim credit for pushing Punjab to the bottom of the Fiscal Health Index among all states in the country,” Warring said, adding that the govt “perfected the art of lying and bluffing” but could no longer mislead the people of Punjab.He further alleged that the AAP govt pushed the state towards bankruptcy and created a situation where “gangsters are ruling the roost”. According to Warring, even after four years in power, one of the key promises of the govt, providing Rs 1,000 monthly financial assistance to women, is yet to be implemented.The Congress leader also raised concerns about the state’s debt burden, claiming that the total debt of Punjab crossed Rs 4.17 lakh crore. He said the state slipped to the bottom of the Fiscal Health Index, as indicated in a recent report by the NITI Aayog.Meanwhile, leader of the opposition in Punjab assembly Partap Singh Bajwa accused chief minister Bhagwant Mann of attempting to mislead the public through exaggerated claims about the performance of the AAP govt during its four years in power.Bajwa said the press conference held by the chief minister to highlight the govt’s achievements was “nothing more than a publicity exercise aimed at masking serious shortcomings”.“The reality is that the AAP govt delivered one of the most disappointing tenures Punjab witnessed in recent times,” he said.The senior Congress leader alleged that the law and order situation in Punjab deteriorated significantly under the present govt. He claimed that incidents of organised crime, extortion threats to businessmen, attacks on police stations and political leaders, and other criminal activities increased over the last four years.“Punjab has rarely seen such a breakdown in law and order. Instead of ensuring security and stability, the govt allowed criminal elements to grow more confident,” said Bajwa.Taking aim at the govt’s claims of making Punjab drug-free, Bajwa said the promises made by CM Mann and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal failed to produce tangible results.“Drug abuse continues to destroy families across the state, and young lives are still being lost to overdoses while the govt remains busy projecting an image of success,” he said.The Qadian legislator also questioned the govt’s claims of strengthening public healthcare. He said govt hospitals across the state were facing a severe shortage of specialists, with nearly half of the sanctioned posts lying vacant. “When govt hospitals lack essential specialists, ordinary people are forced to turn to expensive private hospitals for treatment. This exposes the hollow nature of the govt’s healthcare claims,” he added. MSID:: 129610444 413 |
