Badal all praise for Modi, says Centre helps state

LAMBI: Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal here today lavished praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while countering PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh’s recent statement that it was the Congress government led by Dr Manmohan Singh which had cared for Punjab.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal during a Sangat Darshan at a village in Lambi, Muktsar, on Sunday. Tribune photo

Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Lambi, May 29

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal here today lavished praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while countering PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh’s recent statement that it was the Congress government led by Dr Manmohan Singh which had cared for Punjab.

Badal said the BJP-led NDA government had given several gifts to the state, such as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS); the Indian Institute of Management (IIM); heritage status to Amritsar; inclusion of Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana under the Smart Cities project; World Heritage Park status to the Jallianwala Bagh; and the Horticulture Research Institute of Excellence at Amritsar.

Badal further said, “The Centre will never turn down any of our genuine demands for the betterment of the state and its people. We have benefited immensely from the Centre’s decision to give us a bigger pie of the taxes, accelerating development and growth in Punjab.”

On the spurt in farmer suicides, Badal said, “The state government can’t do anything about the bank loans. But it has passed the Punjab Settlement of Agricultural Indebtedness Bill, which provides for expeditious settlement of farmers’ debt disputes. The process for setting up the district-level forums and the state-level tribunal has already been initiated. This will mitigate the woes of the beleaguered farming community.”

Badal preferred to keep mum over the standoff between Sikh preacher Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale and Damdami Taksal chief Harnam Singh Dhumma. “What can I say about their controversy?” he said.

Retd teacher, sniffer dog land in hospital

Two persons, including a retired teacher, fainted during the CM’s Sangat Darshan programme in Mahuana and Fatehpur Manian villages on Sunday. The retired teacher was taken to hospital in a private vehicle as the ambulance was stuck in a traffic jam. A sniffer dog of the district police pooped blood at Mahuana village. It was also rushed to a hospital. Asked about the urgency of holding Sangat Darshan programmes in the hot and humid weather, the CM said, “We Punjabis don’t feel the heat. The persons might have fainted due to some other reason.”