PM fooled Gurdaspur people: Cong leaders
Friday, 04/01/2019
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/pm-fooled-gurdaspur-people-cong-leaders/708460.html
Gurdaspur : Congress leaders of the border area expressed surprise at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech with many claiming that he had actually fooled the people of Gurdaspur by not announcing even a single employment generating project.
MP Sunil Jakhar said the PM’s visit turned out to be a damp squib. “I was hoping that he would give something tangible to the beleaguered industrialists of Batala. 80 per cent of the city’s foundry units have closed shop ever since the Freight Equalisation Policy (FEP) was abolished in 1992. It used to provide a level playing field to the businessmen ever since its inception in 1947 till its abolition. Several delegations of Batala’s industrialists had met the PM demanding the reintroduction of the policy.
Even I had taken up the issue with the Central government on several occasions. We expected the PM to announce the FEP’s reintroduction today. We are really disappointed. His speech, apart from unnecessarily chastising the Congress party, fell flat,” said the MP.
Cabinet Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said the PM speech turned out to be “empty rhetoric.”
“Residents of Dera Baba Nanak were earnestly hoping that an announcement would be made pertaining to the establishing of a rail component manufacturing unit on 1,200 acres of panchayat land lying vacant in Kalanur. However, that never came through disappointing me and my constituents. I fail to understand why the PM had to come to Gurdaspour in the first place when he had nothing to offer,” said Randhawa.
Amardeep Singh Cheema, a Batala resident and PPCC general secretary, termed Modi’s extempore as “all fluff and no substance.”
“We were expecting that he will announce the setting up of a sugar or wheat research institute somewhere in Gurdaspur. Nothing of that sort happened,” said Cheema.
