The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Friday asked former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh how much investment he had got into Punjab during the previous Congress rule.

In a statement, the party said that the Amritsar MP was trying to belittle the phenomenal Rs43,000 crore investment which had occurred during the last two years of SAD- BJP Government and MOU’s worth Rs1.15 lakh crore signed during the last two days.

In a statement, SAD

General Secretary Maheshinder Singh Grewal said “the truth is often bitter. It is sometimes hard to face. Even you are finding it difficult to digest that compared to no investment coming in during your five year term, the SAD-BJP Government has attracted an investment of Rs43,000 crore in merely two years”.

The SAD asked Amarinder to Google his own attempts at attracting investment if he could not remember them due to wilful forgetfulness. “You announced few real estate investments with much fanfare during your tenure but none of them could fructify during Congress rule”, Grewal said. The Akali leader said even if one were to calculate the MOU conversion rate of the SAD-BJP it was 70 per cent.

Accusing Amarinder of working against the interests of the State, Grewal said the former had humiliated industrial icons and houses who had invested Rs43,000 crore in the State since the last two years with his half baked statements. “You could have at least read the newspapers in between your pleasure sorties abroad or looked up the Internet or even collated figures from the Punjab Invest office to know about the investment attracted by Punjab”.

Grewal also told Amarinder to learn to live in the present rather than a past which was blotted with collusion with the British against Punjabis and freedom fighters. “Denying reality does not make it disappear. Your refusal to accept the State’s growth story has only thrown you open to ridicule”, he added.

The SAD while urging Amarinder to be man enough to call a spade a spade, said the Congress leader should at least take a lesson from all the corporate icons who had attended the Invest Punjab summit and appreciated Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal for the dynamism shown by him in attracting such a huge investment.

“The latest investment of Rs1.15 lakh crore for which MOUs have been signed is also another indication of the trust and confidence reposed in Punjab by the captains of industry”. Grewal said it was best for Amarinder to realise the gains the State had made and appreciate the same by leaving aside his frustration of failing to attract any investment into the State during his five year term as CM.

On Thursday, Congress Deputy leader in the lok Sabha, Amarinder Singh had questioned the “misplaced” hype created by the Government over the promised investments during the last two days of the “Investors’ Meet”. He  asked as what was the status of the earlier commitments and incentives to the existing industry which is reeling under serious crisis.

“let the Government give details about the Rs65,000 crores investment commitments made during the previous investors’ summit, most of which remain unfulfilled,” he had said.