Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Friday said that several new parties were trying to “trick” voters with their false promises but never deliver on them.
“Several new parties have mushroomed in the State and are trying to befool voters through hollow slogans and mimicries,” said Badal while addressing a gathering during an Eid Milan programme.
“Such politicians could merely entertain an audience by their senseless speeches full of beans but fail to deliver when entrusted with the responsibility of running a government,” he said while urging the people to draw a comparison between “performers and tricksters”.
He said that the “entertainer politicians’ without any sufficient administrative experience and acumen can hardly make any tangible contribution to the development of the state…So, I request all of you not to get swayed by such swindlers”.
Sangrur is the parliamentary constituency of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Bhagwant Mann.
Accusing Congress of “shedding crocodile tears” over farmers’ issues in the state, the Chief Minister said that farmers of the country were suffering due to the “regressive” policies of successive Congress governments at the Centre.
Congress was now exploiting the sentiments of farming community and has done nothing concrete for their welfare, he alleged.
“Congress is now a frustrated lot and a spent force just exploiting the sentiments of people through its time-tested policy of divide and rule,” he said.
Badal said that Punjab was the only power surplus state in the country today due to concerted efforts of his government. “The most creditable achievement of our government is that we are committed to promote the ethos of communal harmony, peace and brotherhood in the state,” he added.
Earlier on the sidelines of a function on the occasion of Eid-ul-Zuha, the Chief Minister announced that the state government would make all out efforts for setting up a mega food park in the region.
He said that there was a vast potential of setting up a food park in the region for which the state government would encourage the private players to step in.
The Central Government was offering subsidies for such ventures and the state government would also facilitate the private entrepreneurs for this purpose, he said.
Badal said that in a major step aimed at providing world class civic amenities to residents of cities across the state, the Punjab government has planned a major scheme for providing facilities of water supply, sewerage, sewerage treatment plants (STPs), streetlights, roads and parks in all towns of the state.
He said that the focus of the state government was to equip cities with state-of-the-art facilities so that the people could benefit from it.
The Chief Minister said that his government has also decided to extend facility of Shagun scheme to Muslim girls too.
The state government has also directed municipal committees and nagar panchayats to ensure that land was provided for the burial grounds of the Muslim community across the state. “If the land is not available due to any reason, the state government would provide the land by purchasing it,” he said.