Sukhbir flays Punjab govt for its 'mismanaged' policies

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Tuesday said the "evil intentions" of the Congress government in Punjab were pushing the state behind as it had halted development despite collecting thousands of crores as annual revenue in the form of GST and other taxes.

Addressing a gathering at the protest rally of SAD against the Congress government's alleged anti-people policies as well as U-turn on all poll promises, the SAD president said the "government coffers never became empty".

"Mismanagement and ill-conceived policies of the Amarinder government are reasons behind the current economic mess in the state", he said.

The government collected around Rs 25,000 crore in GST taxes, around Rs 5,000 crore from power tariffs, Rs 7,000 crore from liquor and Rs 5,000 crore from land revenues, he claimed, adding that even after making manifold increases in all taxes, the Congress government was refusing to give any welfare benefits to the downtrodden.

Badal said only one and a half years were left of this "inefficient government" and it had annoyed the Punjabis with its "fake" promises and "deceptive" policies to such an extent that the Congress would never come to power for the next 20 years.

"After coming into power, the SAD-BJP government will roll back all anti-people anti-Punjab decisions of this government and start a new era of development, welfare and prosperity in the state," he said.