Punjab CM blames previous BJP-Akali govt for fiscal mess

Chandigarh, Dec 23 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, here on Monday, blamed the previous BJP-Akali Dal government for the state’s poor finances. The Akalis were now shedding crocodile tears over the crisis, which they created, he added.

Terming the Shriomani Akali Dal’s (SAD) demand for Finance Minister Manpreet Badal’s resignation over the fiscal situation as ridiculous, he said it was the Akalis who were solely responsible for the financial mess that his government was striving to resolve.

For 10 years, the Akalis messed with the state economy for their vested interests, said the Chief Minister, recalling his government, in the previous term, had left behind a robust economy. The SAD-BJP regime ruined that with their ill-conceived and anti-people policies, he added.

The state coffer was sapped during their decade-long misrule, he said. They didn’t take any step to boost the economy, he added.

Their negative policies forced industry and businesses to flee, which crushed investor sentiment, and left behind a huge debt burden, he said. "Just months before the 2017 Assembly polls, the SAD-BJP government added a Rs 31,000 crore loan burden on account of grain procurement for the central pool," the Chief Minister said. It aggravated the fiscal crisis, he added.

He said the government was trying to revive the economy by restoring investor and industry confidence, and pointed to the Rs 50,000 crore on-ground investment realised through the new industrial policy and the ease of business promoted by it.

Unfortunately, the central government’s failure to manage the GST revenue and pay out the state’s share in time was obstructing his government’s efforts to revive the economy, he said.