Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday accused the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP)-led Central government of stalling ₹8,000 crore meant for various pro-people schemes in Punjab.
He said this was a grave injustice to Punjab that could not be tolerated. The Union government was afraid of the AAP’s rising popularity and hence was stooping low to stall the party’s progress, he charged.
He also accused the Centre of working overtime to defame the AAP and using the Central agencies to arm-twist the Opposition, especially the AAP.
He was speaking in Punjab’s Tarn Taran, where he and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann dedicated ‘Sri Guru Amar Dass Thermal Plant’, which was recently purchased by the Punjab government from a private company.
Mr. Kejriwal said that for the first time in 75 years, a private power plant has been purchased by a State government. He said noted that the government had purchased this plant worth ₹5,500 crore for a meagre price of ₹1,100 crore.
Mr. Mann also hit out at the BJP, saying the Union government was not able to digest all the pro-people decisions taken by the State government. He said that funds for Aam Aadmi Clinics under the National Health Mission were stalled by the Union government, adding that Rural Development Funds to the tune of ₹5,500 crore have also been stopped to disallow state for constructing roads in rural areas.
If these funds were released, there would be great impetus to development works in the State, he added.
Against the backdrop of farmers from Punjab and other States planning to lay siege to the national capital on February 13, Mr. Mann said the Haryana government was putting up barbed-wire fences to stop the farmers from going to Delhi. This tendency of creating a rift between Punjab and the Centre must be avoided as it was not in the interest of the country, he said. The issues with farmers should be resolved through dialogue, he added.
