Terming the Central Government’s decision to extend industrial tax concessions to neighbouring hill States — Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand as “a conspiracy to derail Punjab Government’s plans to attract investments in the state”, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Thursday said that Congress has backstabbed the State by keeping it out of the ambit of the package despite repeated pleas.
Slamming the Congress-led UPA Government, Badal said that the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for extending Special Package of Industrial Incentive for the States of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand was clearly aimed at further derailing the industrial growth of Punjab.
The Chief Minister said that Punjab being a land-locked state along an active and hostile international
border, had a much better claim on the tax concessions being given to its neighbouring States.
Badal asked the State Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa “to conserve some of his lung power to speak against injustice to his state by his own party”.
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal said that even though Punjab deserves a special package because of several historical and geographical factors, “we only demand a level playing ground”.
Meanwhile, the Shiromani Akali Dal on Thursday dared the Punjab Congress chief Partap Singh Bajwa and his team to hold protest dharnas against the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, vice-president Rahul Gandhi and the UPA Government for discriminating against the Punjab by extending industrial concessions to the neighbouring hill States.
“It is most intriguing that the concessions have been extended to the two hilly states as they are being governed by the Congress… It
is shocking that no state ruled by the Opposition parties
has been included in the package,” said SAD secretary
and spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema.
On the other hand, Punjab Congress president Partap Singh Bajwa held the SAD-BJP alliance Government fully responsible for economic disaster and devastation of industrial sector in Punjab.
Bajwa, reacting on the issue of extension of special industrial package, said that Punjab deserved a similar package for its border districts but SAD-BJP Government had not supported State Congress in getting such package due to political
reasons.
“I along with Congress MPs and MlAs had submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to give special package to border districts of Punjab. Unfortunately, Akalis looked other way and played spoilsport on this issue,” he said.