Ferozepur: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday held Congress responsible for farmers' problems and said the party was shedding crocodile tears over the peasant-issue and its rally in New Delhi was a political gimmick.
"This rally of the Congress is a political gimmick, the sole aim of which is to score brownie points before media rather than solving any problem faced by the farmers," Badal told reporters at the sidelines of a convocation function at Shaheed Bhagat Singh State Technical Campus here.
The five-time Chief Minister said it was a fact that the farmers of the country were facing a number of problems "only due to the regressive policies of the Congress party".
Questioning the Congress' moral right to hold farmers' rally in New Delhi, he said the party was root cause of farmers' agonies so it has no moral right to organise such rally.
Terming as the best in country the 'Punjab model' of land acquisition, he said the farmers in the state had been duly compensated whenever land had been acquired for development purposes.
Ever since assuming power in 2007 we have been pursuing a pro-farmer policy of land acquisition, which is a role model for the entire country, he added.
Batting for opening of trade route through Hussainiwala and Fazilka borders, Badal said though it was an international matter, the state government would make concerted efforts for opening of these borders as it would usher in an era of unprecedented development and prosperity in entire Punjab.
The Chief Minister said since Punjab was a landlocked state, opening trade route through these borders could boost the economic activity in the region.
The list of items currently traded through Attari border (Amritsar) should be brought at par with those traded through Mumbai-Karachi sea route, he added.
Replying to another query, the Chief Minister squarely blamed the previous UPA government for spiralling prices of sand and gravel in the state.
He said the previous UPA government deliberately denied the permission to state government for auctioning the mines in Punjab, resulting in high prices for sand and gravel.
However, Badal said the prices of sand would soon be reduced as the NDA government has now given permission to the state for mining.
Earlier, addressing the gathering after conferring degrees
on the students of Shaheed Bhagat Singh State Technical Campus, Badal announced that the state government would make persistent efforts for getting deemed university tag for the institute by taking up the issue with the Centre.
Meanwhile, addressing a state government function to mark the 124th birth anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar in the district today Badal accused Congress of "backstabbing Ambedkar, a great statesman and an icon of weaker sections of society, by diluting the federal structure of polity as enshrined by Baba Sahib in Indian Constitution".
The Chief Minister said in order to ensure holistic development of the states and the country, Baba Sahib, the chief architect of India's Constitution, had taken due care for enshrining the federal structure of polity.
"However, for their own vested interests Congress leadership from time to time diluted this very fundamental principle of the Indian constitution thereby deceiving Ambedkar," he said.
Badal alleged that as a result of this 'sinister move' of the Congress leaders the country was today facing a number of social maladies like unemployment, poverty, illiteracy and among others.
He expressed hopes that now as the NDA government at the Centre had been formed, "the unfulfilled dreams of Dr Ambedkar would soon be realised".
"The formation of NITI Aayog at the Centre by scrapping the Planning Commission of India was the first move towards realising the dream of federal India as envisioned by Ambedkar. The NDA is duty bound to cherish the aspirations of Ambedkar, who dedicated his entire life for the service of humanity," Badal added.
He said pro-poor schemes like Shagun, Atta-Dal, Mai Bhago Istri Vidya Scheme and others have been launched by his government to safeguard the interests of these strata of the society.
Badal said one of the bigger achievements of his political career was Rs 250 crore-project by the state government for construction of state-of-the-art temple-cum-panorama centre at Sri Valmiki Tirath Amritsar, where poet Valmiki had composed Ramayana.
This would be an architectural marvel, which would help in perpetuating the glorious legacy of Valimiki, he said.
