Punjab: Sukhbir flays AAP for ‘selling govt bonds' for land acquisition
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday condemned the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government for 'selling government bonds to finance the acquisition of 24,000 acres of fertile farm land' adjoining the city. Terming the exercise as needless, he alleged that the government was doing so to fill its own coffers.
He said the move was a multi-hundred crore scam. While talking to newsmen here, the SAD president said, 'While the taxpayer will pay exorbitant interest on the ₹1,000 crore being borrowed to fund the land acquisition, the AAP will use the acquisition process to make money. It is promising change of land use in back dates to property dealers and land sharks in exchange for bribes.'
Asserting this was the reason why the chief minister had turned a blind eye to the plight of thousands of farmers whose fertile lands would be 'snatched', Sukhbir said, 'The SAD is committed to saving this farm land. We are also committed to exposing this scam and bringing those responsible for these corrupt practices to book once the SAD forms the government in the state.'
Asserting that the AAP government was bankrupting the state, the SAD chief said, 'The state's debt has crossed ₹4 lakh crore. Out of this, ₹1 lakh crore has been borrowed by the AAP government in the last three years. At this rate, the debt burden will increase by another ₹50,000 crore by the time the tenure of this government ends.'
He said despite such big borrowings, the AAP government had nothing to show by way of development. 'Look around. Do you see any development work? In fact, the condition of roads, lights and sewerage is in its worst ever phase. All development work from bridges, flyovers to extension of the road network has been done during the previous SAD governments.'
'The social benefits have been drastically reduced or completely stopped, be it the aata daal or the Shagun scheme,' he added.
CM Bhagwant Mann has already asserted that the government is not resorting to forceful acquisition of land but seeking the consent of farmers for sustainable urban development projects.
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