Opposition leaders on Thursday slammed the AAP-led Punjab Government for handing out ‘freebies’ under the Mawan Dhiyan Satkar Yojana to cover up its failures and lure voters. Under the scheme, Rs 3,000 and 4,500 were deposited into eligible women’s accounts on Wednesday.
Leaders from different political parties criticised the AAP government for giving out freebies, alleging that, instead of focusing on development and addressing the people’s real problems, the party was resorting to freebies just to lure voters ahead of the Assembly elections.
Anil Satin, spokesperson for the Punjab BJP, said the freebies were nothing but political drama to lure innocent voters. “The AAP government came to power as they announced they would provide Rs 60,000 to eligible women. There would be more than 1 crore eligible women in Punjab, but the government has registered just 44 lakhs and yet, the full sum has not been deposited in their accounts. The deposited sum is only for the next three months till September,” said Sarin, adding that the move constituted a betrayal of the people of the state.
Voicing similar views, senior SAD leader Maheshinder Singh Grewal said the state government was diverting the attention of the masses towards freebies to cover up its incompetence. “The government has not done any development work. One rainfall has exposed them in the city, with sewers getting blocked, people getting contaminated water and roads getting caved in. The government which has failed to deliver the basic infrastructure is now on a cover-up operation,” said Grewal.
Pawan Dewan, former president of the Ludhiana (Urban) District Congress Committee and ex-Chairman of the Punjab Large Industrial Development Board asked how a government that had proved ‘thoroughly incapable’ of even running civic bodies could ever claim to effectively run an entire state. In a cryptic social media post from his X handle, Dewan said, “Deadline met the drizzle & collapsed. @harjotbains’s grand June 30 vow of a ‘pothole and manhole-free’ Ludhiana has been shredded by today’s shower, which instantly transformed the city into a maze of water-filled pits and overflowing manholes. The government’s promise has drowned.”
Taking a sharp swipe at Bains and the AAP government, senior Congress leader said that during his June 12 visit to the city, the minister had gone so far as to boast that even if the NHAI failed to clean roads under its jurisdiction, the MC would step in, do the job and send them the bill. “Today’s rain-soaked reality has turned that bravado into farce, clearly exposing how the AAP government’s tall claims collapse the moment they face the ground,” rued Dewan.
Dewan further pointed out that city was crippling under the weight of thousands of potholes and manholes, many of which were dangerously left uncovered.
