Describing the twin principles of ‘socialism and secularism’ as the underlying spirit of Indian Constitution, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Friday said that any deviation from these two basic tenets would be against the interest of the country. “India being a land of diversities is endowed with people hailing from various religions, castes, creeds, and linguistic background…In this backdrop, the forefathers of our Constitution had laid special thrust on the concepts of socialism and secularism in our Constitution,” he said on the sidelines of his ‘Sangat Darshan’ programme in Phagwara Assembly segment.
Citing an example of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Badal said that even the great monarchs like him had made the principle of secularism an essential part of his governance. “No country can survive without these doctrines as they firmly hold its social fabric together,” he added. Taking a jibe at former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh for his statement regarding Punjab’s “precarious” financial condition, Badal said that rather than worrying about the issues of governance, lok Sabha MP from Amritsar must try to set the house of his party in order.
“Before issuing such “baseless” statements, Capt Amarinder Singh and State Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa must try to ensure discipline in their party by nailing the prevailing infighting,” he said. Capt Amarinder had a day before alleged that the “ruling Akalis appeared to have resigned to bankruptcy as the fait accompli for Punjab, claiming that nobody seemed to be concerned over the precarious financial situation in the state”.
Badal also called upon the entire opposition to play a constructive role by co-operating the government in making Punjab a frontrunner state in the country. “Healthy criticism by opposition is always welcome but criticism for the sake of criticism is undesirable and unwarranted,” he added. Chief Minister said that “step-motherly” treatment by the Congress, coupled with its “regressive” policies, have broken the backbone of Punjab’s economy.
He alleged that Congress had always adopted an anti-Punjab stance due to which the State’s development suffered. It had a notorious past of adopting an anti-Punjab stance due to which the State has suffered a lot, he alleged. “Punjab was probably the only State in the country which has been hitherto deprived of its capital,” he said.
Chief Minister said that he would soon meet the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for seeking the release of pending Rs400 crore sanctioned by the 13th Finance Commission. He said that the funds sanctioned by constitutional body like Finance Commission should be given to the state and that he would soon take up this issue with the Union Government.
