Punjab ChiefMinister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday ripped into Arvind Kejriwal’s brazenclaims and allegations, slamming the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader’s shamelesslies as a re-run of the spree of false promises and cheap attacks on theCongress he had resorted to back in the 2017 polls.
“The people ofPunjab were wise to your deceptions then, and can see through them again now,” saidthe Chief Minister, in a hard-hitting response to Kejriwal’s criticism of hisgovernment and the state Congress. Kejriwal’s barefaced lies will be exposedagain, just as they had been exposed in the 2017 Assembly polls, CaptainAmarinder added, slamming the AAP national convenor’s fabrications anddeceptions. “Punjab knows what a first-rate liar and master of deceit you(Kejriwal) are,” he added.
Trashing hisDelhi counterpart’s allegation of the Congress government in Punjab failing tofulfill its poll promises, the Chief Minister said it was ridiculous to comparehis government’s track record of over 84% promises implemented with the Delhigovernment’s pathetic track record of less than 25% of AAP’s 2015 manifestocommitments fulfilled in 2020. “If this is the Delhi model you (Kejriwal) arepromising Punjab then my people are better off without it,” he added. Insteadof indulging in deceitful claims and talking of `badla’, Kejriwal should focuson Delhi, which is still waiting for him to fulfill even 50% of his pollpromises, remarked Captain Amarinder.
Data available inpublic domain shows AAP’s wretched credentials when it comes to delivering onits promises, said the Chief Minister, pointing to the plethora of independentanalyses ahead of the 2020 Delhi Assembly polls, which had showed that at theend of its 5-year term, the Kejriwal government had fulfilled only 11 of its 70promises. Slamming Kejriwal’s dramatics at a Mahapanchayat yesterday, CaptainAmarinder said, “Unlike Delhi’s voters, those in Punjab are not deceived bysuch hyperbole and have trust in their own eyes and in what they can see on theground,” quipped Captain Amarinder.
It was a matterof record, said the Chief Minister, that despite Delhi Congress leader AjayMaken’s repeated questioning on the issue, the AAP government in Delhi hadfailed to show its progress on its 8-lakh jobs’ promise of 2015. Even themuch-touted Delhi Skill Mission had failed to take off, he pointed out, addingthat, as per figures listed in one of the analysis, the Kejriwal government hadgiven jobs to 102 people in 2016, 66 people in 2017, and 46 people until April2018. “You really have no shame if you can come and criticise my government’semployment record with such data on Delhi,” he added.
In contrast tothe AAP government in Delhi, his government in Punjab had provided 16.29 lakhjobs/self-employment opportunities under the Ghar Ghar Rozgar Mission, with awhopping 58,709 in the government sector alone, he pointed out, mockingKejriwal’s desperate efforts to deceive Punjab’s people and disillusion themagainst his government. He said during the last year of its current term, hisgovernment would be recruiting another one lakh people to fill existing vacancies in government jobs.
Citing survey of theGovernment of India and its agencies, Captain Amarinder pointed out that as perthe Report on Periodic Labour Force Survey (2018-19) released by Ministry ofStatistics and Programme Implementation, as against Delhi’s unemployment rateof 8.0%, Punjab had 7.2% unemployment, which was even lower than the nationalaverage.
“Apparently yourPunjab leaders, as always, failed to give you correct inputs before you came toPunjab, or perhaps they deliberately misled you,” the Chief Minister said,taking a dig at Kejriwal over the latter’s promises to the people of Punjab.
Captain Amarinderalso did not spare Kejriwal over his “will always stand shoulder to shoulderwith the farmers protesting against the Centre's three farm laws” comment.“Everyone knows who you are standing with on this issue,” quipped the ChiefMinister, reminding the AAP leader that his government in Delhi had alreadyimplemented one of the farm laws. Even in Punjab, AAP had taken a U-turn on theissue, he pointed out, asking the Delhi chief minister to stop poking his nosein “my state’s affairs, which I am capable of handling much better than you aredoing in the national capital.”
The ChiefMinister also lambasted Kejriwal for not ensuring Covid-appropriate behaviourduring the Moga meeting, where the AAP leadership itself was seen withoutmasks. He termed it the height of irresponsibility and said it showed howlittle Kejriwal and his party cared about the people of Punjab. “Back in Delhi,they are imposing hefty fines for not wearing masks, and here they go aboutshamelessly uncaring about Covid safety protocols,” he pointed out. He furthernoted that while the Punjab Congress had put all political rallies etc on holddue to the Covid surge, the fact that Kejriwal failed to do so showed that hisonly interest in Punjab was to grab power by hook or by crook.