Boha (Pathankot): Taking a dig at the UPA government, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said corruption in the ruling dispensation has surpassed all the records and it would soon find mention in the `Guinness Book of World Record`.
Badal squarely blamed the Congress-led UPA government for rampant corruption, saying that its ministers have amassed ill-gotten wealth, the amount of which was "roughly equivalent to the seven times annual budget of the state".
Addressing a public rally organised by the state BJP unit here today, the chief minister said that the UPA government has "surpassed all the records of corruption and it would soon find mention in the `Guinness Book of World Record`."
He said that gone are the days when only UPA Ministers were involved in the scams, now even their kin were also neck deep in corruption.
"It was a paradoxical situation that in the misrule of this government, which had assumed power on the name of common man, the unbridled corruption had increased the agonies of the poor people," the senior Akali leader said.
Badal said it was a reality that in the tenure of this government the ministers have "shamelessly plundered the public money", and even the pious field of sports was not exempted from this open loot and illegal minting of money and multi-crore CWG scam was a glaring example of it.
The chief minister said that it was the result of the anti-people policies of the Congress party, which had ruled the country for the longest period so far, that the nation was today confronting a number of social maladies like poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and corruption.
Badal said exorbitant hike in the fuel prices coupled with the inflationary prices has broken the backbone of the common man.
Training guns at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who had recently alleged that 7 out of 10 youth of the state was a drug addict, Badal appealed him to introspect who was to be blamed for the sorry state of affairs.
Badal alleged that Congress was responsible for the deteriorating drug situation in the state due to its inept handling of this sensitive issue.
"It was the Centre which exercised absolute control over Border Security Force and other para-military forces manning the International Border who have failed miserably in checking the inflow of drugs into the state," the chief minister said.
He said the "immature and novice approach" of Rahul would
not help the Congress in any way in the coming Lok Sabha polls rather it would help the SAD-BJP alliance.
"The more Rahul visits Punjab brighter are the chances for alliance performing better in forthcoming elections," Badal said.
Lunching a scathing attack on the Congress, the chief minister reiterated that it had always meted out a step motherly treatment to the opposition ruled states in general and Punjab in particular.
The rally was also addressed by Punjab BJP president and MLA Ashwani Kumar Sharma and former BJP MP Vinod Khanna.
PTI
