‘SURVIVING ON OVERDRAFT, STATE IN ICU FOR 4 MONTHS IN A YEAR’
Saturday, 21/03/2015
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CHANDIGARH: Leading the opposition charge in the budget debate, former finance minister Lal Singh on Friday termed the fourth budget by finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa as “directionless and disappointing”.
While sparing the “good man” Dhindsa the barbs, Lal Singh took potshots at chief minister Parkash Singh Badal who, he said, had high hopes of ` 1 lakh crore bailout package from the “friendly” government at the Centre.
“Badal saab, you are experienced at misleading people. You put the entire debt of ` 1 lakh crore as legacy of our party. Media reports say you were snubbed by finance minister Arun Jaitley. The latter also stopped Punjab’s cash credit limit during the procurement season causing unrest. Had former PM Manmohan Singh ever met out such a treatment to you? If you do not get a bailout as the state’s debt has now touched ` 1.24 lakh crore, the existence of your party would be in jeopardy,” Lal Singh told the CM.
He said Punjab was on overdraft for 126 days this year. “For four months, the state was in an intensive care unit (ICU). Be it revenue and fiscal deficit or debt, the alarm bells are ringing. The employees are not getting salaries on time and the needy their pensions. Little wonder that the budget does not mention to keep even a single poll promise,” he added.
He then warned the CM that a tsunami was in the making. “Not just Punjab farmers but your party would also be swept away if the MSP regime is disbanded. They are also saying that the Swaminathan Committee recommendations cannot be implemented. Compare the MSP of your government at the Centre with that of ours. You will know who is profarmer. Whenever the NDA has come to power at the Centre, it has destroyed Punjab. It was the NDA that gave tax concessions to the neighbouring hilly states. Badal saab, you will have to stage dharnas against the Centre. We will go with you,” Lal Singh said, adding that the BJP MLAs had run away from the debate.
Congress MLA Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, who spoke later, took on the ruling benches on everything but the budget. Mimicking PM Narendra Modi more than once, he drew guffaws from both sides as he questioned the arrival of “achhe din”.
