Accepting people’s mandate in 2017 Punjab Assembly polls with all “humility and honesty”, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Monday asked the Capt Amarinder Singh Government to fulfill their pre-poll promises of waiving farm debt and providing 30 lakh jobs, instead of making attempts to hide behind the “smoke-screen” of committees.
SAD’s core committee, which met on Monday to discuss the party’s debacle, solaced itself by passing a resolution stating that the people had appreciated the agenda of development and good governance which resulted in party getting second highest percentage of votes across the state. At the same time, the party undertook introspection about the shortcomings and reasons that may have led to decline in its popular support.
“The party will play the role of constructive opposition in the state. We will support every decision of the government which is good for Punjabi and its people. But we will steadfastly and vehemently fight against any decisions that go against the interest of the state and the people,” said SAD general secretary Harcharan Singh Bains, while giving details of the meeting.
SAD core group also called upon the Congress government not to use committees as a “smoke-screen to hide behind for inaction on its promises”, he said adding that it should announce waiver of debt for farmers as all the data is already available with the government.
Similarly, it should announce a cabinet approval for recruitment to meet the promise of 30 lakh jobs, he added.
“Their (Congress) promises were vetted by Dr Manmohan Singh, an outstanding economist, and these were made only after seeing that the government treasury is in a shape healthy enough,” Bains said adding that the new government can fulfill all its promises in a single meeting of the cabinet.
The core committee also said that the 120-point agenda of the Punjab council of ministers was “nothing but a rehash of decisions already implemented by the previous government”.
The committee also passed a resolution expressing confidence in the leadership of party chief Sukhbir Badal and thanked former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for leading the state from one glory to another.
“The party felt that conspiracies were hatched to render Punjabis and Sikhs leaderless by targeting the SAD. But, we will continue to seek inspiration form the great Gurus and fight all such conspiracies. The party will continue to fight as the voice of Punjabis and the Sikhs all over the world,” he said.
The committee hoped that the Government would not encourage acts of repression and violence and spoil the peaceful atmosphere of the state.