Chandigarh, October 19
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab senior leader and MLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan accused the ruling Congress of running away from the long-pending burning issues of the state and the people, stating that the Congress leaders and the government instead of telling 18, sometimes 5 and now 13-point agenda; should fix a date to implement them, because for the last four-and-a-half-years, the government in Punjab is of the Congress party. But Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi is talking as if the government for the last four-and-a-half-years was not of the Congress but only of Capt Amarinder Singh. At the same time, Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu is opening such letters as if he is not the president of the ruling party but the leader of the opposition party.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Kultar Singh Sandhwan sought an account of ten issues from the Channi government and demanded that the assembly session be called immediately for a time-bound resolution of all the pending issues. MLAs Kulwant Singh Pandori, Manjit Singh Bilaspur and Amarjit Singh Sandoa were also present on the occasion. Kultar Singh Sandhwan said that there was desecration of Sri Guru Granth Sahib along with other Holy religious texts in Punjab, due to which the people were deeply saddened. Due to this, the people of Punjab have been demanding punishment of the accused of sacrilege, but under the rule of the Congress government, none of the accused got punishment.
Sandhwan questioned the Chief Minister of Punjab, Charanjit Singh Channi, when will there be justice for the sacrilege of Sri Guru Granth Sahib along with other scriptures and punishment to the conspirators/accused? Targeting the government on the issue of unemployment, Kultar Singh Sandhwan said, “When will the promise of ‘Ghar-Ghar Rozgar’ be fulfilled? What did the Congress government do for four-and-a-half-years to provide government jobs and unemployment allowance? Channi sahab should release the white paper. Will the Channi government be able to tell how many unemployed people were given jobs? How many unemployed are there in Punjab? Why was the unemployment allowance of Rs 2,500 not given?” He questioned what steps were being taken by the Channi government to end the mafia rule.
The AAP leader further questioned, “Why were the promises of the Liquor Corporation to end the Liquor Mafia and the Sand Corporation to eliminate the Sand Mafia not fulfilled?” On loan waiver, Kultar Singh Sandhwan asked the Congress government why the entire loan of farmers and farm laborers was not waived. “The Channi government should apologize to the ‘annadatas’ and farmer-laborers for the breach of promise and issue a white paper to tell how much government and non-government debt is on farmers and laborers and how much has the government waived in four-and-a-half-years,” he added.
Criticizing the Channi government for being silent about the drug mafia that ruined the youth of Punjab, Sandhwan said that why no concrete steps were taken in four-and-a-half-years regarding drugs and drug mafia? Why were big smugglers and political leaders not cracked down? Why is the envelope of the STF report not opening? Seeking the arrest of former minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot and the entire gang accused of SC scholarship scam, Sandhwan asked that the Chief Minister and Navjot Singh Sidhu should tell whether any ‘Mahurat’ will have to be found for this? He said that by conducting an inquiry on four officers, the Channi government cannot fool the people.
Seeking the account of the fraud committed by the government with the government employees and pensioners, Kultar Singh Sandhwan asked why the elderly, widows, disabled and dependents have not started getting a monthly pension of Rs 2,500 even today? Why have the fatal power purchase agreements not been canceled yet? He said that while the law and order situation worsened in Punjab has created an atmosphere of fear in the state, it is affecting the trade, business and industries of the state badly. Incidents of kidnapping, ransom and robbery are happening daily. Sandhwan alleged that the Channi government had no agenda to bring Punjab out of this crisis.
