List nine promises you kept in nine months, Sampla asks Punjab CM

Seeking to corner Punjab's Congress government that has completed nine months in power, Union Minister Vijay Sampla on Saturday asked Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to list nine poll promises he had fulfilled during the period.

"Amarinder Singh made big pre-poll promises to farmers, youths, Dalits, traders, elderly, women, backward classes, government employees, and urban-rural voters -- the nine major sections of society during Punjab assembly elections. Now, he should tell which of those he fulfilled?" Sampla, President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state unit, told the media.

He claimed that every section of society in Punjab was feeling betrayed, especially farmers.

"This is the reason why 343 farmers have ended their lives since he took over as Chief Minister on March 16. Some even have held the Amarinder Singh government responsible for their fate," the BJP leader alleged.

Listing what he called "unfulfilled" promises made by the Congress ahead of the February 4 assembly polls, Sampla said these included total loan waivers for farmers, ban on forcible takeover of land of farmers unable to pay back bank loans, government job for each family, Rs 2,500 unemployment allowance for jobless, smartphones for youths, house for homeless Dalits, eradicating drug menace within a month, increasing pensions of elderly and women to Rs 1,500 and electricity at Rs 5 per unit for Punjab industry.

The Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment urged people not to fall in the trap of "false promises" of the Congress and vote accordingly in the December 17 municipal elections in Punjab.

--IANS

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