The Fact News Service
Nawanshahr, August 18
Senior Congress leadership, Workers, Office Bearers, Volunteers today held a massive protest in Nawanshahr, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, to demand appropriate compensation for flood victims in the state.
Under the leadership of Punjab Pradesh Congress (PPC) President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, the gathering held placards and chanted slogans against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s failure to address public grievances and its lethargy in providing appropriate compensation to the flood victims in the state.
Attacking the AAP government for its mismanagement, atrocities and ineptitude during the recent floods in the state and for turning a blind eye towards the crisis that people faced alone, Warring said that AAP failed in fulfilling all the poll promises made by it during its election campaigns to grab power in the state by hook or by crook. The people of Punjab wanted to believe in the ‘Badlaav’ that was promised to them, but about one and a half year of AAP’s ‘Misrule’ had completely broken the mirage created by AAP leadership. They promised to eliminate the VIP culture, eradicate the drug menace, quell the illegal sand mining, strengthen the law & order, but now the truth was before all how Punjab was being pushed back to the dark days of chaos and unrest, rued Warring.
We had been protesting against the state government for the rights of our people and we would keep raising our voice till the Punjab CM does not provide adequate compensation for the flood victims, said the State chief adding that the party would continue to expose AAP’s atrocities, failures and scams and nothing could intimidate party workers or the leaders.
Slamming the AAP government for squandering state exchequer for self-branding, former CM Charanjit Singh Channi said, the government that was wasting thousand crores on ads and self-promotion could not compensate the flood-hit victims. Be it wasting public money on Helicopter rides, misleading hoardings, deceptive ad campaigns or other PR activities, Bhagwant Mann was hell-bent on wasting public funds on party branding. It was shameful that Mann, who called himself a teacher’s son, could not address the grievances of the farmers and those who lost everything in the recent floods till now, rued Channi. Saying that a lie has no legs, Channi said that the people would throw them out soon for their misdeeds.
Former Cabinet Minister Rana Gurjeet Singh while lambasting the AAP government for its mismanagement and carelessness in the recent floods said the incompetency of the inexperienced government aggravated the devastation in Punjab. He said that it was the responsibility of the state government to compensate the people who lost their house and valuables, small businessmen who lost their shops and their merchandises, people who lost their milch cattle, and those who lost their loved ones in the recent floods. We would force the state government to compensate the victims and we would keep protesting till the demands were not met, added Singh.
While raising fingers on Bhagwant Mann’s fake concern for democratic values, Warring said that ‘Action speaks louder than Words’ and Mann’s actions had exposed his fake words. He was vocal about farmers’ rights, teachers’ rights, unemployment, drug menace and other issues that concerned the people of Punjab. Ironically, people fell prey to Maan’s words and took him as one amongst them all, but he stabbed them in the back. He betrayed the farmers, the teachers, the youth, the mothers and sisters, and every voter who believed in the word ‘Badlaav’, accused the PPC chief.
Warring again questioned why Bhagwant Mann was not letting the farmers sell the sand that had settled in their fields? He said why was Mann forcing farmers to buy Urea bottles when they had been asking for fertilizers. Warring alleged that by forcing farmers to buy bottles of liquid fertilizer Mann was either returning favours to the manufacturers or creating a platform for financial gains. The sand mafia which the AAP government had claimed to eliminate, was flourishing under its patronage, accused Waring adding that if the CM had wanted, he would have used the Police force to maintain law & order in the state and take strict action against the sand mafia.
The PPC chief also mentioned that the government had enough funds to compensate the flood victims, and it could announce 50000 per acre for the farmers but why Bhagwant Mann was running away from his responsibilities was the point to ponder.
Congress party had demanded minimum of Rs 50000 thousand per acre compensation for the farmers, financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh for those whose houses have got damaged, ex gratia of 5 lakhs for the injured and 10 lakhs to the bereaved families who have lost their loved ones. We have also demanded financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh for the shopkeepers who have suffered colossal losses, Rs 50,000 for the owners, whose milch cattle have died in the natural calamity, said Warring adding that the Congress party will force the government to compensate each and every victim.
