BJP Punjab chief Vijay Sampla. (File Photo)
Punjab BJP chief Vijay Sampla on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the Irrigation and Power Minister Rana Gurjit Singh, asking him to focus on his department rather than sand mining. Sampla said that while thousands of acres of farmland lies submerged in water, an oblivious Rana Gurjit was busy in illegal sand mining and getting a clean chit from Justice Narang Commission. “Had he concentrated on his department and prepared a strategy for combating the fury of the monsoon, the farmers would not have suffered so much,” Sampla said.
Addressing a press conference here, along with party’s national vice president, Avinash Rai Khanna, national secretary Tarun Chugh, former state president Rajinder Bhandari and state secretary Vineet Joshi, Sampla said had Rana Gurjit been serious about his work he would have got the 1500 km drain network in the state cleaned prior to monsoons.
“Had he acted on time the farmers would not have suffered a loss. Farmers are already feeling cheated after the government took a U-turn on the promise of full loan waiver and now this neglect has devastated them. We ask the Chief Minister to keep his promise and provide a relief of Rs 20,000 per acre to the farmers,” the BJP leader said.
Sampla further said the party has since long been pointing out that famers of the state were committing suicide as the government went back on its promise of a full loan waiver. He alleged that over 180 farmers had ended their lives during the Congress rule of 150 days, adding that after the CM announced a partial loan waiver on June 19 as many as 100 farmers committed suicide.
The state BJP president said that the government has also failed to curb sale of fake pesticides. “Congress people might be linked to this scandal too, but in the end farmers are the only losers. Capt Amarinder Singh’s and Punjab Congress Chief Sunil Jakhar’s claim of weeding out drugs and controlling the gangsters have fallen flat after their own MLA, Surjit Singh Dhiman, stated that drugs were easily available in every street of Punjab,” he said.
