Arvind Kejriwal lacks 'long term vision': Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh

PATIALA: Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh today accused Arvind Kejriwal of lacking "long term vision" and alleged AAP national convener had become Chief Minister only after making "non-implementable" promises to the people of Delhi.

"Kejriwal has no long term vision and he makes promises that are short sighted and non-implementable. People in Punjab cannot have IAS officers who sit on dharnas. If elections happen today, Kejriwal will lose", Amarinder said here during the last leg of 'Coffee With Captain' session with young students.

On Kejriwal's "populist measures" in Delhi, the former Punjab Chief Minister alleged that Kejriwal had "fooled" people at every step of his public life.

He said: "While Sheila Dikshit spent an average of Rs 26 crore for advertising during her three terms, Kejriwal has already spent Rs 500 crores".

On the issue of drug abuse, Amarinder assured the audience that the menace can be resolved within four weeks.

"There are three dimensions to the drug problem - one which comes across the border. Two, the absence of any national drug policy in India because of which states like Madhya Pradesh can still produce drugs. And thirdly there are synthetic drugs which are very dangerous," he said.

Referring to the absence of any "political will" in the present establishment to counter the drug challenge, Singh said, "We all know who makes it and sells it. So it won't even take four weeks to finish this menace."

On unemployment, he claimed that 90 lakh people in the state were currently unemployed and the government was only planning to create 1.25 lakh jobs.

"This is just a drop in the ocean. Punjab has no industry despite several initiatives that were taken during my term in office," he said.

Referring to his outreach efforts with several big companies including Tropicana and Reliance industries, the Lok Sabha MP detailed the "failures" of the current establishment.

"In Zirakpur, the biggest industry is property. Now even that industry is dead which flourished during our term. We have to think long term. People can club resources and start business. We will finance half of the capital and offer subsidies to boost businesses," he said.

Singh also discussed the issue of water security with the students.

"There will be a time when we will not have ground water or river water. So I have asked the Supreme Court to see what is the level of water and then take a decision. I will not be here after another 10-15 years but I want to leave a Punjab with better water with you," he said.

During 'Coffee with Captain', Amarinder interacted with young students on several issues facing the state.