Modi has betrayed Punjab: Manpreet
Tuesday, 18/08/2015
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CHANDIGARH: People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) president Manpreet Singh Badal on Monday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) alliance government had betrayed Punjab and chief minister Parkash Singh Badal must admit publically that his hopes from the Centre had not been met.
“The Punjab chief minister need not be reminded that he had pinned high hopes on Modi as the SAD had all along been blaming the Congress for injustice done to Punjab. However, during the last 15 months of this regime, one cannot list even a single major decision taken by the Modi government to favour this beleaguered state,” Manpreet claimed.
He alleged that even during the previous NDA regime way back in the late 1990s, the government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee had left out the state while handing out industrial concessions to neighbouring states.
“This move of granting industrial concessions to neighbouring states while ignoring Punjab had hit the state hard, even as the union minister of state for industries at that time was Sukhbir Singh Badal,” claimed the PPP president.
Manpreet said in spite of the state leadership’s claims, the state remained discriminated against at every level. “What is the difference between the Congress and the BJP if the Punjab CM is still pleading before Modi, 15 months after the new NDA regime took power, to reverse discriminatory treatment over 40 years?,” he claimed.
“Badal is just passing the buck for everything wrong in Punjab, including his own failure,” he claimed, adding that Modi himself had promised to implement the Swaminathan Committee report on crop MSP.
