CHANDIGARH, APRIL 26: Lashing out at the leaders of opposition parties, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday asked them to desist from issuing unfounded, illogical, frivolous and politically motivated statements criticising the AAP Government’s recent landmark decisions.
In a video recorded message, Bhagwant Mann chided the President Shiromani Akali Dal Sukhbir Singh Badal for unleashing propaganda against the Government’s recent path-breaking initiatives to rejuvenate the health and education sectors on Delhi model. Advising Sukhbir Badal, the CM said,”Healthy criticism is always welcomed but criticism for the sake of just criticism and political survival is highly deplorable.” Realising the mounting frustration of Akali Dal day by day, Bhagwant Mann said their leadership was bereft of any constructive political agenda and hell bent to tarnish the sanguine image of AAP, which was voted to power with a thumping majority thus decimating both Akali Dal and Congress parties from the Punjab polity.
Bhagwant Mann rued that Akali Dal was making unwanted hue & cry over the ‘Knowledge Sharing Agreement’ (KSA) in the field of Health & Education with Delhi Government. “Had the Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal, which ruled Punjab for 44-years, done something tangible for the welfare of people and prosperity of the state, they would not have to face such worst humiliation. In the same breath, Bhagwant said Sukhbir Badal should had patience at least for some time as AAP Government had not completed its 44 days while the Congress remained in power for long period of over 25 years and Akali Dal ruled for 19 years.
Sukhbir Badal should not mislead the people by referring to false documents with regard to the KSA besides befooling the people spreading canard about Punjab’s AAP Government being run from Delhi, said the CM adding that Sukhbir Badal had gone to China to forge a collaboration for power generation from paddy straw and his father Parkash Singh Badal had entered into several agreements in different fields with Ontario province of Canada. He questioned Sukhbir whether their Government run by the Chinese Government or Ontario province.
Taking MLA Partap Singh Bajwa to cudgels, the CM asked him to refrain from baseless accusations for sake of political bashing and reminded him the time when their party’s former Chief Minister was ordering posting and transfers of high-ups like Chief Secretary, DGP and senior bureaucrats at the instance of his foreign guest. “You were writing letters to the Chief Minister at that time showing displeasure over his autocratic style of functioning but later you too was seen having lunch and dinner with him” the CM reminded Bajwa.
Training guns at Navjot Sidhu, the CM said that first of all Sidhu should get his group recognised from the Congress Party, which was protesting against the power agreements at Rajpura and blaming AAP for the same. On Sidhu’s self-styled functioning, the PPCC President Raja Warring has even denounced him terming that it was not a dharna of Congress Party.
He dared him saying,”why you didn’t join as power minister while you could have easily scrap these power agreements.” He, however, said the AAP Government would soon rescind these agreements in the Punjab Assembly but unfortunately you won’t be there in the House to witness this historic decision.
Reiterating his Government’s firm commitment to revive the lost glory of Punjab, Bhagwant Mann said that all of us being Punjabi should make Punjab as a frontrunner state in the country. Without mincing any word Bhagwant Mann said,”the AAP Government would strive hard to replicate any worthwhile development model not within the country but across the globe also to ensure all round development of Punjab and welfare of its residents.”
