Congress protests Punjab govt’s unfulfilled promises

Chandigarh: Congress workers from Punjab staged a protest against chief minister Bhagwant Mann and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) govt, accusing them of failing to fulfil their commitments to the people.AAP's pre-poll promise of providing Rs 1,000 per month to all women aged over 18 was among the issues raised during the protest. The Congress asked the govt to release the amount along with arrears of four years.The Congress said it planned to gherao the Punjab assembly on the first day of the budget session. Party workers gathered outside Punjab Congress Bhawan before marching towards the assembly. However, police detained the protesters before they reached the assembly complex. Addressing the workers, Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring alleged that the AAP govt and chief minister Bhagwant Mann completely failed on multiple fronts. He claimed that the state's debt crossed Rs 4 lakh crore and was likely to reach Rs 4.17 lakh crore soon.Warring also alleged that funds meant for Punjab were being diverted by the Aam Aadmi Party for elections in other states such as Delhi, Gujarat and Goa. He claimed that the govt failed to undertake major infrastructure projects and spent thousands of crores of rupees on advertisements.Warring reminded the AAP govt of several promises made to the people, including the Rs 1,000 monthly allowance for women, revival of the old pension scheme for employees, payment of pending dearness allowance (DA), and claims of generating Rs 20,000 crore in revenue from sand mining. He said after four years of the AAP govt, people in Punjab were now seeking answers.Warring alleged that incidents involving criminals and gangsters increased and that people no longer felt safe. "Law and order has collapsed completely in Punjab. Bombs are being hurled, the statue of Babasaheb was vandalised, and more. The drug menace is a big issue in the state. We are protesting against all these issues," he said.Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Partap Singh Bajwa and former Deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa also addressed the gathering and criticised what they described as the overall failure of the AAP govt led by chief minister Bhagwant Mann. MSID:: 129148004 413 |