Package denial biggest blow to Punjab: Manpreet
Thursday, 28/05/2015
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CHANDIGARH: People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) chief Manpreet Singh Badal on Wednesday said the Narendra Modi government had dealt the biggest blow to the border state by putting a final seal on the rejection of the much-needed special financial package to rejuvenate its economy.
The hopes had been dashed by the very government in which the Shiromani Akali Dal is a partner, with Harsimrat Kaur Badal, daughter-in-law of Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, being the food processing minister, the PPP chief said in a press statement.
Manpreet called upon the CM and deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal to come out with their frank opinion on the views expressed by Union minister of state for finance Jayant Sinha here on Tuesday that Punjab was on the path of prosperity and hence there was no need for a package.
“The increasing incidence of farmers’ suicide ridicules the prosperity perception. The debt burden is staggering and it is going up every day. I had to pay the price for taking up this issue effectively and forcefully with the Centre as the finance minister way back in 2008. Now Punjab is not even included in the list of debt-stressed states, such is the ‘preferential’ treatment meted out to the Badal government by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” said the former finance minister.
He said there was no indicator suggesting a revival of the economy, both urban as well as rural. Even the central assistance to Punjab had been curtailed under the new formula. Despite so much hype created about capital inflow, no new industry had materialised, Manpreet said. “The father-son duo had been proclaiming from the rooftops that the situation would change for the better once the BJP came to power at the Centre,” he quipped.
Manpreet said it was surprising that Badal had been all praise for Modi just two days ago despite the fact not a single decision had been taken by the Centre favouring Punjab, except inducting Harsimrat as a cabinet minister. He said the basic issue was not the bias for or against Punjab; the future of the state was at stake, as the rulers had failed to look beyond their own business interests.
