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New Delhi/Chandigarh, January 9In a 10–page chargesheet against the Badal regime, the Punjab Congress manifesto has exposed the `Loot, Boot & Shoot’ policy of the SAD-BJP government, listing out the multiple failures of the Akali misrule of the past 10 years. Saying that ‘It’s a SAD BAD show here’, the chargesheet underlines ‘Why it’s imperative for the people of Punjab to rid themselves of a decade of SAD-BJP mis-rule’ and accuses the Badal government of dragging the state and its people “into a deep abyss of fiscal deficit, economic mess, lawlessness, policy paralysis and a shameful decline in uprightness.” Asserting the Congress commitment to its 9-point agenda to end the feudal and oppressive SAD-BJP regime, the manifesto underlines key examples of their poor governance, unprecedented loot/corruption and inherent character malignancy. The chargesheet is led by a section on ‘Family First – the family comes first while the state goes to dumps’, pointing out how a few individuals had turned multi millionaires in a short time while the state dipped to low levels of economic growth and income. Drug abuse stands high among the charges listed in the chargesheet, which accuses the SAD-BJP government of mortgaging the future of young Punjabis to the rapidly rising drug mafia, and adds that drug lords are active members of the present SAD-BJP regime. The Badal government is further charged with demolishing institutions and structures in the state, robbing them of their own powers and autonomy. Corruption is everywhere, says the chargesheet, citing the drug, mining, liquor, land, cable, transport and lottery mafias, as well as food scam, safai scams, housing and recruitment scams, education scam and cheating of the farmers, to show how the Badal government has directly or indirectly promoted or lionized corruption. Charging the state government with unleashing jungle raj, the chargesheet points out that the SAD-BJP has promoted a free-for-all, might-is-right kind of attitude, leading to the common living in constant fear and insecurity, blatant lawlessness in policing and administration, loss of law with crime rate climbing to shameful numbers, desecration and destruction of the holy character of sacred sites, unabated farmer suicides, exit of industrial investment from Punjab, collapse of the state’s vibrant agriculture sector and widespread unemployment. The Badal regime is also charged with impairment of financial, human and natural resources due to policy paralysis and government failure. On the financial front, there is complete breakdown of taxation policy and administration, with land resources fast depleting as a result of indiscriminate sale of land, etc. Damage to soil health and depletion of water resources are other effects of the ill-conceived policies of the state government. Human resources are fast depleting due to declining education standards, low level of healthcare, as well as deprivation of rights of Dalits and OBCs, says the chargesheet, citing facts and data to show how the state has been plundered by the SAD-BJP regime. Listed under ‘Captain’s Punjab: A Nawan Naraon Punjab’, the manifesto underlines the Congress commitment to the people on the key issues plaguing the state, which is heavily burdened by the failures of the Badal government. The key highlights of this section are as follows:
Punjab Da Paani, Punjab Vaaste (Punjab’s water is for its people only)
Drug Supply, Distribution & Consumption 4 Hafte Vich Khatam (Done with drugs in 4 weeks only)
Ghar Ghar Rozgar (A job for every household)
Kissana Layee Arthike Te Samajik Surkasha: Waiver of agricultural debt
Trade, Business and Industry Layee Karobaar Di Azaadi & Affordable Bijlee, Paani Te Safari Surakshaa (Full freedom for trade, business and industry with affordable electricity, water and sewerage)
Women Empowerment
Free Households for All Houseless SCs
Caring for OBCs
Ex-Servicemen as Guardians of Governance at Grassroots
The Congress, in its manifesto, also promises to set up a Commission of Inquiry to review all false cases and FIRs made under the Badal regime to ensure justice to the innocent and punishment for the guilty, especially under the NDPS Act, with fast-track courts to be set up to try the cases with expediency.
