Cong MLA raises question over own party govt's performance

Congress MLA and former captain of Indian hockey team Pargat Singh has questioned the performance of his party's government in Punjab, claiming that it has"failed" to meet its poll promises. Singh, who is a Congress legislator from Jalandhar Cantonment, has written a letter to Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, questioning the government's effectiveness in tackling the issues of drug menace, sand mafia and corruption in transport sector, besides the desecration of religious texts in 2015.

The letter, a copy of which was also sent to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the party's Punjab unit chief Sunil Jakhar, was written about a month ago. "Punjabis gave us a mandate in 2017 as they had your performance and clarity in working style as chief minister in your earlier tenure 2002-2007 in mind. However, an impression is developing now that Punjabis are getting disappointed with the performance of Punjab government," Singh wrote in the letter.

"The main reason is that the drug menace has not been uprooted. Coffers of the Punjab government continue to remain empty," Singh wrote. He also said a "lot of profit" is being made from the sand mining but all the money is landing in "private pockets" in place of the state exchequer.

"Should we not think why we are lagging in income despite Punjab being among the top states in the country in consumption of liquor?" he asked. Olympian Singh also raised the issue of transport sector and said the party had made "bus transport empire" of Badals a major issue during the 2017 polls.

"But when we are about to complete three years in power, their empire has not only remained unchallenged but they have now established monopoly on the Jalandhar-Delhi airport route," wrote Singh, who is a two-time MLA. Raising the issue of desecration of religious texts in 2015, Singh said people have now doubts if the state government would ensure justice in the matter.

"Why have the people doubts about the steps of our government in putting culprits of the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib in the dock? We must remember that this was the biggest reason behind the Congress getting power in 2017 as people expected justice from us," he wrote. Singh, who joined the Congress before 2017 assembly polls after quitting the Shiromani Akali Dal, also listed the issue of corruption.

"We had promised to end corruption but every major case of corruption is now either collapsing or is being allowed to fail midway instead reaching its logical conclusion," he said. To buttress his point, he cited the alleged lack of progress in the irrigation scam in the state.

Earlier in the past, Congress MP Partap Singh Bajwa and some MLAs too had been critical of the Amarinder Singh-led government on various issues. PTI CHS VSD RAX

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