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Chandigarh, September 10: The Punjab Congress President, Mr Partap Singh Bajwa, today urged the Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi to announce special package for this beleaguered state on the pattern of Bihar during his visit here tomorrow to inaugurate Chandigarh International Airport . He also wanted the Prime Minister to clarify the status of the Punjabi farmers settled in Gujarat who continue to face the spectre of eviction.
“The financial assistance to any state should not be dictated by political considerations and rather the centre should come out with some broad formula. The package to Bihar has been announced on the eve of Assembly elections which, in a way, amounts to collectively bribing the people. Punjab is under a staggering debt of more than Rs 1 lakh crore and the farmers in this once the most prosperous state are committing suicides. The Prime Minister should come out with the special package at least for the farmers in this food basket of the country to wipe out their debt”, he said.
Mr Bajwa pointed out that the Chief Minister Mr Parkash Singh Badal, as usual, had been selling dreams to the people in the state of a new era once the BJP came into power at the centre with Mr Modi as the Prime Minister. However, the Modi government failed to come out to rescue the state and whatever had been announced so far were nothing more than routine projects for which the ball was set rolling by the UPA government.
He also wanted Mr Modi to tell the people as to what was he now doing to implement his promise made before the Lok Sabha election through a full page ad to rid Punjab of drug menace. He said now the involvement of the BJP leaders in drug smuggling had surfaced. He said Punjab was being ruined by the Akali Dal-BJP patronised drug mafia but the Prime Minister had failed to act. He reminded the Prime Minister that even the BJP President Mr Amit Shah who at one stage vociferously talked of taking up this issue suddenly backtracked. He reiterated the demand for Supreme Court monitored CBI probe into drug racket in view of the involvement of ruling alliance biggies.
The PPCC chief said the Punjabi farmers in Gujarat settled there since 1965 who turned the barren lands into green lands were facing the threat of eviction in view of the special leave petition filed by the Gujarat government when Mr Modi was the chief minister against the decision of the Gujarat High Court that had provided relief to these farmers. He said it was strange that the Gujarat government had refused to withdraw this SLP with the Supreme Court.
He also demanded that the injustice done to Punjab by earlier Atal Behari Vajpayee government that granted industrial concessions to the neighbouring states should be undone.
He said in case the Chief Minister Mr Parkash Singh Badal had any dignity, he should either withdraw the Union Food Processing Minister Mrs Harsimrat Kaur Badal from the Modi cabinet in protest or come out of alliance.
