Giving a stern warning to anti-social elements who have been trying to disturb Punjab’s peace
and harmony, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday said that “anything can be sown in the
fertile land of Punjab, but not the seeds of hatred”.
Mann, addressing the gathering after offering prayers at Malerkotla Idgah on the occasion of
Eid-ul-Fitr, also declared that Aam Aadmi Party led Punjab Government would not spare anyone
involved in attempts to weaken the strong social bond among people of the State.
The Chief Minister, who posted several pictures — depicting communal harmony — on his
Twitter handle, said that Eid is a festival which makes humanity feel the pain of others and
symbolises universal brotherhood, peace, and amity.
Claiming that the AAP Government will break the tradition set by previous governments for
registering false cases against political opponents, the Chief Minister said that previous
governments mercilessly plundered the state’s resources. “These people are still not satisfied
after looting the state for years. But now, the people have their own government. Money will be
taken back, with interest, from the looters,” he added.
“I do not want to make any unrealistic promise...We would conduct audit of all funds, utilized by
all previous governments...We would recover Punjab’s all money that these parties have
looted...and the recovered money would be utilized for the state’s development,” he said.
AAP leader said that during the 46 days since the party came to power in the State, its people
have witnessed the Government’s initiatives to provide clean and transparent administration
besides creating enormous job opportunities for the youth. He also claimed that the Government
was able to fight corruption during this period besides launching a successful campaign to free
government land from encroachers.
Urging the people to give the ruling dispensation some time to perform, Mann claimed that his
Government has been implementing every commitment made to the people of the state and his
Cabinet has already approved a recruitment drive to fill 26,454 posts lying vacant in various
government departments, besides approving to amend the Act to give state MLAs only one
pension regardless of the number of terms they have served.
He said that the AAP Government is committed to spending every penny from the state treasury
for the people’s welfare.
The Chief Minister said that no stone would be left unturned to ensure comprehensive
development of infrastructure in the newly-formed district of Malerkotla. “The previous
government had just accorded district status to Malerkotla, but much remains to be done...I am
aware of the region’s needs and that education and health infrastructure would be given top
priority,” he said.
Conceding the demands raised by local MLA Mohd Jamil Ur Rehman, Mann assured that this
historic city would not face any shortage of funds till the entire development process is
completed to the satisfaction of its residents.
Amarinder says his party would jointly fight with BJP in municipal polls and
Sangrur by poll