Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) on Tuesday demanded high-level inquiry into the grants distributed so far by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal during his Sangat Darshan programmes.
“Myth about Badal’s Sangat Darshan programme is exposed after the fact came to light that so-called development grant of Rs 40 crores given by him to ludhiana Municipal Corporation at a Sangat Darshan programme is actually a loan given by PUDA and Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB),” said PPCC vice-president for Malwa Charanjit Singh Channi, and other legislators of ludhiana districts in a joint statement.They alleged that Badal had kept ludhiana MC authorities and people of ludhiana in dark about the nature of funds given for development of the city.
PUDA and PIDB have now asked ludhiana MC to refund the loan given to them, and it was shocking for the ludhiana MC and an embarrassment for local SAD leaders who showered praises for Badal’s “kind gesture”, they added. Channi and Congress MlAs — Gurkirat Singh Kotli, Surinder Kumar Dawar, Rakesh Pandey, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, and Amrik Singh Dhillon — said that Chief Minister was also distributing central funds for rural development at Sangat Darshan to get political mileage.
Demanding to immediately stop Sangat Darshan and focus on good administration, the leaders also maintained that distributing grants is the duty of Block Development and Panchayat Officers (BDPOs) and let them do their work. They also demanded an explanation from SAD-BJP Government and loud mouthed spokesperson of the SAD who had on Monday defended the ‘Sangat Darshan’ programme.