The Punjab Congress newcomer and former BJP parliamentarian Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday released a white paper on the ’10 years…
Navjot Singh Sidhu (PHOTO: Facebook)
The Punjab Congress newcomer and former BJP parliamentarian Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday released a white paper on the ’10 years of misrule by Badals in Punjab’.
The cricketer-turned-politician, Sidhu, who is fighting Punjab assembly elections from Amritsar-east on Congress ticket, alleged Badal family for burning a hole in state exchequer. Terming Badals ‘selfish’ he said they had a direct conflict of interest with the state exchequer. Comparing the excise collection figures of Punjab and Tamil Nadu, Sidhu claimed that Punjab has 12,500 vends and the annual revenue collection from these stands at Rs.5,610 crore as against Tamil Nadu's Rs.26,188 crore from its 6,323 vends.
“Punjab has the highest per capita alcohol consumption in the country. This trade has been monopolised by the Badal family for the last 10 years. Indirectly, every bottle in Punjab is sold by the Badals,” Sidhu further alleged. “If calculated over a span of 10 years, it is a scandal of Rs one lakh Crore, which benefitted the Badals. If the government takes over all liquor trade, 60,000 jobs can be created”, he alleged.
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Accusing Badals for making money from every business of Punjab, Sidhu alleged that the government-run hotels in Punjab have been closed and put on sale on the excuse that those incurred losses. “The Badals sold hotels and resorts of the government to their associates at throwaway prices. The hotel built by the Badals at the periphery of Chandigarh reportedly charges Rs.5 lakh per night,” he said. Sidhu further accused the Badals for their monopoly over the transport sector.
“Before coming to power in 2007, the Badal family owned 50 buses, but now the number stands at 650 and the number of transport companies owned by the family has risen from two to eight," he alleged. Urging the voters not to fall in the Badals' ‘trap’, he said, "Punjab's loss is directly proportional to Badal family's gain. “The total loan against Punjab is Rs 1,88,000 Crore and if loans to all corporations are included it goes up to Rs 3 lakh Crore," he said.
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