Punjab CM Amarinder accuses Harsimrat of lying over Golden Temple GST refund issue

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday lashed out at Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur accusing her of peddling lies on the religious issues and spreading falsehood on the sensitive issue of Langar Prasad at the Golden Temple.

"The Union Minister's statement had not an iota of truth. The state government had not only notified 100 per cent GST refund for Punjab's share in respect of Darbar Sahib, Durgiana Mandir, Amritsar and Valmik Sthal, Ram Tirath, Amritsar but had allocated a whopping Rs 4 crore to the Deputy Commissioner, Amritsar, in May this year for the same", the Chief Minister's office said in a statement quoting Singh.

Punjab Chief Minister's remarks come after it was reported that Harsimrat had alleged the state government of going back on its commitment of paying its share in the GST to Harminder Sahib.

Punjab Chief Minister also claimed that Akali leadership was resorting to fabrications in the run-up to assembly polls and said, "Bereft of any meaningful political issue to fight the upcoming Assembly by-polls in the state, they are resorting to outright fabrications in a desperate bid to deceive the people, who had repeatedly rejected them since the 2017 Assembly elections in the state".

The Chief Minister also reiterated his Government's commitment to refunding the State's share of the GST not just for the current year but with effect from August 1, 2017 for all the three holy shrines.