A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Congress of deceiving people on the farm loan waiver and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots issues, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday hit back saying that every statement by Mr. Modi was a desperate bid to mislead the people in the face of an imminent defeat in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Capt. Singh alleged that Mr. Modi had yet again lied on every issue — from the 1984 riots to the farm debt waiver and Kartarpur corridor — at the public rally in Gurdaspur.
In a statement released here, Capt. Singh asked why Mr. Modi had been silent on the BJP-RSS workers named in the FIR lodged at the Tilak Marg Police Station on the violence perpetrated against the Sikhs during the 1984 riots.
“And what about the 2002 riots in Gujarat which happened right under your nose and in which your own party members were squarely blamed and named,” he asked.
Kartarpur corridor
Capt. Singh also criticised the Prime Minister for trying to seize credit for the Kartarpur Corridor, which “the Congress had been actively pursuing since the days of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, right down to Dr. Manmohan Singh.”
Capt. Singh claimed that the Congress government in Punjab had fulfilled more promises in 21 months than the Modi-led government at the Centre had done in five years.
“We have managed to waive ₹3,417 crore of crop loans of 4,14,275 farmers in just one year. Another three lakh farmers will get crop loan waiver to the tune of about ₹4,000 crore very soon. Did you even give one paisa to us to help the farmers,” asked the Chief Minister. “And where is the Swaminathan report, which you had promised to implement,” he asked Mr. Modi.