Cornering the Akali-BJP alliance on their developmental plank, Congress president Mrs Sonia Gandhi has described their claims of development in Punjab as hollow. Addressing an election rally at Kapurthala on Thursday Congress president said that this government had proved to be the most inefficient, as Punjab had seen total decline on all fronts during the last five years.
Questioning the claims of development of the Akali-BJP government Congres president said that the policies of Akali-BJP alliance have increased the number of poor in the state to twenty lakh from thirteen lakh earlier. “Is this the development you are talking about?” she asked, while adding “this government had destroyed and devastated Punjab and it will take long time to retrieve it”. Referring to poor state of affairs of government schools and hospitals, Mrs Gandhi pointed out; Akali-BJP’s “so-called development” is reflected in the pitiable condition of government schools and hospitals. She said that the state government had neither any intent nor any resources to improve these institutions which are meant for poor people.
Lashing out at the non-performance of the Akali-BJP alliance Congress president said that the state government had failed to utilise the `5,000 crores grant provided to it under MNERGA.
She said that the state government had proved to be so inefficient that it could spend just `526 crores of `5,000 while letting the remaining money go unutilized.