Check facts before making vague statements:Badal to Opposition

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today asked opposition parties to verify facts before making "vague statements" about the debt on the state and claimed that an era of unparallelled development has ushered in under the present regime.
Before issuing baseless statements regarding debt on the state, opposition parties must verify facts about development going on in every nook and corner of the state, he said on the sidelines of Sangat Darshan programme of Khadoor Sahib Assembly segment here.
An era of unparalleled development has ushered in the state under the SAD-BJP government. A complete facelift of villages and cities of Punjab was on the cards, which could never have turned into reality in case of any paucity of funds, Badal said.

"So get yourself acquainted with the ground realities rather than making vague statements for opposing the government for the sake of opposition," the Chief Minister said.
Badal came down heavily on newly appointed Punjab Congress Chief Captain Amarinder Singh for his statements about routing SAD from the political scene of the state and termed it as a mere "figment of imagination" of the former Punjab CM.
Before making such tall claims the state Congress chief must recall that how the people of state have rejected him and his party time and again, Badal said, while accusing Singh of issuing baseless statements on the incidents of sacrilege in the state just to hog limelight.

Commenting on the motive behind holding Sadbhawna rallies in the state, the Chief Minister said their sole aim was to make Punjab emerge as a "peaceful and prosperous" state.

He said the rallies were being organised to promote the ethos of peace and amity besides cementing the age-old bond of communal harmony and brotherhood in the state.
Badal alleged that the Congress had "divested Punjab of
its rights" by giving water to Rajasthan, Haryana and other states.
Recalling the "grave conspiracy conceived by the Congress to divest the state of its legitimate share in river waters", he held the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi responsible for Punjab's crisis as she had "forced" former Congress chief minister of Punjab Darbara Singh into signing an agreement "to give away Punjab's waters to Haryana".

The chief minister also held state Congress chief Amarinder Singh responsible for "inviting" Indira to start the digging of the canal at Kapuri in his own constituency Patiala "by offering her a silver spade" to start the process.
He claimed that while the Congress had "rejoiced" the occasion, the SAD had launched a "long peaceful democratic" morcha in the interest of the state as a result of which no river water went out of Punjab after that.
Mounting an attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Badal described it as "anti-Punjab and anti-people in character".
He claimed that the AAP leadership too was "hell bent on turning the state into a desert by robbing its water".

Badal alleged that AAP leaders had an "anti-Punjab mindset" which could prove to be "fatal" for the state.
On demonetisation, he said this step of Prime Minister Narendra Modi would prove to be beneficial for the citizens as it was taken in the "larger interest of the country".
Badal claimed that after the initial hiccups due the decision, which was the "brainchild" of Modi, it would act as a "catalyst" in wiping out the parallel economy propelled by black money and corruption from the country, besides several other social maladies.