Scam-tainted Cong leaders will dealt with once SAD comes to power: Badal

SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Friday said all Congressmen who have allegedly indulged in scams and plundered the state exchequer would be taken to task once his party comes to power in Punjab.

Addressing a rally here, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief accused Chief Minister Amarinder Singh of backstabbing the state's farming community by allegedly participating in the process to finalise the three new agricultural ordinances.

Badal blamed the Congress for plundering thousands of crores of rupees by allegedly giving patronage to illegal liquor and sand mafia and claimed that several legislators of the ruling party were running illegal liquor distilleries in the state.

Outsiders from Rajasthan and Jammu have teamed up with Congress legislators to form sand mafia in the state which is looting the state exchequer by mining sand illegally, he claimed.

The state suffered a loss of around Rs 6,500 crore in excise revenue and could not collect even Rs 100 crore of the Rs 1,400 crore revenue from sand mining as projected by the Congress-led government, the SAD chief claimed.

Why should people repose their faith in the chief minister again, asked Badal as he claimed that Singh had visited his office only 11 times during the last four years.

The chief minister backstabbed the farming community by promising and amending the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs) in 2017 and also being part of the process to finalise the three agricultural ordinances, Badal claimed.

The chief minister also failed to stand up to the centre on all issues concerning the state including the recent Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) because he was afraid of being targeted by the Enforcement Directorate.

This is why Amarinder Singh dances to the tunes of the centre, said Badal.

Whereas the SAD had always honoured the promises made to Punjabis, said Badal.

Parkash Singh Badal had promised to extend free power facility to farmers for agricultural operations and fulfilled this commitment in the very first cabinet meeting after assuming power in the state, he said.

Similarly, the SAD was responsible for the start of assured foodgrain procurement on minimum support price in 1966 and a majority of agricultural markets for procurement of foodgrains were established during the tenure of governments led by the Akali Dal, he said.

The SAD president also took on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal and the party's Punjab chief Bhagwant Mann.

He said Kejriwal had promised eight lakh jobs in Delhi but according to an RTI, only 214 jobs were created in the national capital in three years.