SAD chief Badal slams AAP govt over law and order issue

Ludhiana, May 2 (PTI) Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Thursday said the “breakdown” of law and order and the “gangster culture” under the AAP rule had sounded the “death knell” for Punjab’s industry.

The SAD president, who was here to campaign in the city for party’s candidate Ranjit Singh Dhillon, interacted with industrialists. He also led the ‘Punjab Bachao Yatra’ in Khanna in favour of the party’s Fatehgarh Sahib candidate Bikramjit Singh Khalsa.

“It is condemnable that home-grown industrialists are leaving Punjab and investing in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh,” claimed Badal.

He claimed that industrialists from the state had already invested Rs 20,000 crore in other states, which was a huge loss to Punjab’s economy.

Holding the AAP government and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann “solely responsible for this state of affairs”, Badal said, “Industrialists told me that many of their compatriots had thought it fit to pay extortion amounts because the state government had failed to curb gangsters.”

He also claimed that industrialists conveyed to him that they had allegedly not got a single concession from the AAP government and their electricity bills had also been “hiked” making their business unviable.

He said some industrialists also alleged that they were facing problems in obtaining raw material as their counterparts were apprehensive about dealing with them in the current situation.

Badal said SAD is committed to eradicating the “gangster culture” and drugs. “The SAD will adopt a zero tolerance policy on both the issues,” he said.

Asserting that peace and communal harmony is essential for progress, Badal said, “It is unfortunate that all national parties are bent on dividing the country on religion and caste lines instead of telling what they will do for trade and industry or farmers and the common man”.

He also appealed to the people to check the credentials of all parties in the fray as well as their past track record. “I can proudly state that the SAD is the only party which has a proven track record of fulfilling its commitments while all others are indulged in propaganda alone,” said Badal.