Punjab BJP chief blames Congress, AAP for flood crisis

Chandigarh, Sep 19 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party’s Punjab President Sunil Jakhar on Friday said in order to benefit at the national level, the Congress has mortgaged state’s interests to the Aam Aadmi Party.

He said now when it has become clear that floods in Punjab were the result of the state government’s failures even then during his visit Congress' leader Rahul Gandhi did not utter a word against the government.

“Even the state leadership of Congress is not fulfilling its responsibility as an Opposition,” Jakhar said in a statement.

He said this “is proof that both parties are the same and their partnership is now out in the open”.

He said despite the state government’s claims of spending Rs 230 crore on flood-prevention measures, the way embankments were washed away in the floods proves that the government did not act sincerely.

“It’s Punjab government’s failure that is writ large on this devastation, yet the Congress remains completely silent on this issue,” the BJP leader said.

He said convening of the assembly session by the government is nothing but a time-wasting exercise.

“If they really intended to act, they already have Rs 12,000 crore available from the SDRF (State Disaster Response Fund) and people are demanding immediate assistance.”

Jakhar added the Congress would also have to pay the price for betraying Punjab, while the AAP government, which was responsible for drowning the people, has to face people’s court.

A day earlier, BJP national General Secretary Tarun Chugh launched a blistering attack on the government, holding Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal directly responsible for turning a natural calamity into a “Mann-made disaster”.

Chugh said: “In Punjab, AAP government’s incompetence, delay, and surrender before vested interests converted a seasonal challenge into a human tragedy. This was not just a flood; it is a Mann-made disaster.”

--IANS

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