Ridiculing the foundation laying for an AC bus stand by Union Minister Harsimrat Badal in Bathinda, Punjab Congress on Tuesday said that the Badals were living in a “delusional world with their grandiose schemes and plans, which had absolutely no relevance for the suffering people of the State”.
“From the ‘Harike Water Cruise’ to the Sukhvilas resorts, and hop-on-hop-off bus service, and now AC bus stand, the extravagant schemes and projects which the Badals have been launching left, right and centre, over the past few days, showed that they are totally disconnected from the ground realities of Punjab, whose people did not have access to even basic transport,” said senior Congress leaders Sunil Jakhar, Manpreet Badal and Darshan Singh Brar.
They said: “With not enough buses plying on the road, and a rotten transport system that is controlled by Badals, the people of Punjab find it difficult to commute for their daily needs.”
Congress leaders said that the bulk of the buses in the State are privately owned, and majority of them by Badal-owned companies.
Describing these projects as “completely worthless for the people”, they said that the Badals were trying to adopt foreign schemes in Punjab, which was currently struggling to cope with a multitude of problems, ranging from the economic to the social.
“There are people who are dying of hunger, lack of money, drugs and unemployment, while others are being killed by criminal mafias who rule the State under Badal patronage…These high-flying ideas are not going to raise the State to the standards of global cities,” they added.
Congress leaders, describing as sickening the total lack of empathy in the ruling SAD-BJP combine for the suffering masses of the state, said: “If you can’t help them, don’t at least mock them by tom-tomming your high-fangled ideas which have no place in the lives of the people at this juncture.”
They urged the Badals to refrain from such “shameless” acts, which were also in violation of all electoral norms, considering that the State was slated to go to the polls in just a few weeks from now.