Farmers Movement Archive

Akalis plundered Punjab of natural resources, says Navjot Sidhu

Newly appointed Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday accused the previous Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (SAD-BJP) government of plundering Punjab of its natural resources, saying Sukhbir Singh Badal’s 13-point agenda is a new ‘lollipop’ ahead of the assembly elections. Addressing party workers’ meetings in Faridkot and Moga, Sidhu said Punjab needs the “state income agenda” and not false promises. He said, “(SAD chief) Sukhbir Badal should make it clear where would the resources come from to make the agenda a reality. The promises made by the SAD and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to provide free electricity are nothing but a lie. Punjab is a welfare state, but the SAD-BJP government plunged it into a debt of ₹1.5 lakh crore.” He said that the previous government plundered the natural resources of Punjab. “Telangana is earning ₹4,000 crore from mining every year due to their policy. But in their 10-year rule, the SAD-BJP government put only ₹400 crore in the exchequer as sand revenue, which was now being increased by ₹300 crore a year by the Congress regime. I assure you I will increase it to ₹1,000 crore a year. Punjab was dominated by the cable, sand, and transport mafias besides others,” he added.Also, the previous government entered into power pacts keeping their vested interests in mind, the Congress leader said. “Due to these pacts, the state is purchasing electricity at higher rates. I assure you that we will cancel the power purchase agreements (PPAs) and provide electricity to industry at ₹5 per unit and residential units at ₹3 per unit,” he added. Also, the three agriculture laws introduced by the Union government are a clumsy ploy to break the backbone of Punjab’s economy, he said. “The PPAs and three black farm laws would be repealed in the next assembly session. Targeting the AAP, Sidhu said Punjab did not need the Delhi model and that there was no factionalism in the Punjab Congress now. The state Congress chief announced that he would start constituency-wise rallies after August 15. Congress MLAs Harjot Kamal, Sukhjit Singh Kaka Lohgarh, Darshan Singh Brar and MLA Kushaldeep Singh Dhillon were present. State Congress acting president Pawan Goyal accompanied Sidhu. Covid-19 norms were violated during the meetings addressed by Sidhu as more than 1,000 people each had gathered at both the venues. Shown black flags at Moga Farmer unions and contractual employees showed black flags to Sidhu when he arrived in Moga. The farmers also raised slogans against Sidhu for his “the thirsty walks to the well” remark made during his installation ceremony at Chandigarh. The contractual employees protested demanding regularisation of their jobs.

Hindustan Times

06-08-2021

Chandigarh