Criticising the Punjab government over the law-and-order situation, Union petroleum and natural gas minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday said the plight of the common man could be imagined if police personnel felt “unsafe”.
He also accused the state government of failing to address unemployment and the drug problem among Punjab’s youth.
Addressing representatives of various traders’ associations in Amritsar, Puri said criminals were openly attacking police personnel and police stations, creating an atmosphere of insecurity in the state.
he said the BJP won’t enter into an alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), but if it does, the party won’t be a junior partner as was the case in the past While interacting with mediapersons. The 22-seat formula of the erstwhile allies will no longer work, Puri said. Puri claimed that the BJP would form the government in Punjab in 2027.
“I am not authorised to comment on the alliance issue. During the meeting with businessmen, representatives of various trade and industrial associations submitted memoranda seeking steps to promote business in Amritsar, removal of taxation-related difficulties, improvement in infrastructure and greater access to central government schemes. They also urged the Centre to facilitate the resumption of India-Pakistan trade, which has remained suspended amid tensions between the two countries. Puri assured the representatives that their concerns would be taken up with the concerned ministries. He claimed that the state’s youth were facing unemployment and getting trapped in drugs. Former MP and former Punjab BJP president Shwait Malik was also present.
“The seat distribution would be on equal terms,” he said. Only the BJP president or an authorised leader can make any statement about that,” he said. Targeting the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Puri alleged that Punjab had been pushed into a state of “misgovernance”. He also said the Narendra Modi government had kept petroleum product prices from rising despite global upheavals in recent months.
