Lack of governance in Punjab, claims Capt
Saturday, 30/07/2016
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=162017&boxid=59571&uid=&dat=2016-07-30
Chandigarh : Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh on Friday hit out at the SAD-BJP government, claiming that there was a lack of governance in the state due to which corruption and drug problem were rampant and the education and health systems had collapsed.
“In most party programmes, youth come to us with the majority of questions related to the lack of governance by Akalis,” he told reporters here.
“Corruption is rampant, drug problem is at its peak, education and health system has collapsed and common man is worried where to go to get his work done,” he said. “In Punjab, police is only busy catching small fries in drug trade and not touching the sharks,” he said, adding that the drug issue would be one of the key concerns during electioneering. Attacking Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia over the drug issue, he said, “Once Congress forms government in the state, we will prosecute Majithia.”
On the arrest of AAP MLA Naresh Yadav in a desecration case in Malerkotla, he said, “This business of arresting people without concrete evidence in hand is absolutely wrong. There
is law of land...till something concrete is found how can you arrest someone,” he said. Singh termed cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu’s resignation from Rajya Sabha as “not a gain but a step down for him”. “From a chief ministerial face he will be just be a campaign face for AAP in Punjab,” he said.
On AAP’s prospect in the 2017 polls, he claimd that the party’s popularity had “gone down” in Delhi and it’s image had become “negative”, unlike what was being projected in Punjab. Amarinder said AAP was “inexperienced” to run a government. “Even I took an year to understand things after I became the Chief Minister,” he said. On possibility of Arvind Kejriwal being projected as CM face of AAP, he said, “Punjab has enough people and faces and the state does not need to import someone. Kejriwal is from Haryana and people of Punjab will not accept him.”
On the possible damage by AAP to Congress in the polls, he said, “Peoples Party of Punjab (PPP) damaged Congress prospects in the last elections. Now, AAP will go downhill...We need to contain them (AAP).” He said he was open to alliance with Left parties in Punjab.
‘Officiating GOC-in-C is cause of concern’
Chandigarh: Punjab PPCC chief Amarinder Singh has flayed the functioning of NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that the appointment of an officiating General Office Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of Western Command was an apt example.
Amarinder while having a dig at the NDA government said that the Prime Minister had centralized all powers and appointed an officiating GOC-in-C of the biggest and the most strategic Western Command, out of the seven Commands of the country, which is a cause of concern. “I am surprised how the PMO is functioning at New Delhi”, he claimed while interacting with media persons here on Friday.
“This is for the first time in the history that the Western Command will be looked after by an officiating commander and that too while there is tension on the Indo-Pak border,” he claimed. “Often the government starts the process of appointing permanent GOC-in-C of the command well in advance,” he said.
“It only reflects the lack of decision making at the highest level,” he observed, while wondering as why was not a regular appointment made when everybody knew that the incumbent commander was going to retire on July 31.
The present Western Army Commander, Lt Gen KJ Singh, is going to retire on July 31.
