Badals 'not serious about government', says Amarinder Singh

CHANDIGARH: Congress leader Amarinder Singh today lashed out at Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his Deputy Sukhbir Badal for abandoning Punjab by shifting the entire state apparatus to Haryana for campaigning there.

Charging the SAD leadership with being "not serious about government", Amarinder accused them of pursuing "personal and pecuniary" interests in Haryana, leaving the public in the lurch.

In a statement, he told the Badals that the way you have abandoned the state amounts to "absolute irresponsibility and wilful dereliction of duty" even though the SAD was contesting just two seats in the 90-member Assembly in Haryana.

The Congress leader said before beginning campaigning there, it would have been beneficial to both Punjab and Haryana if Badal had committed to ensure resolution of all pending issues between the two states, if his alliance partner comes to power.

"But I know state interest is the least and the last in your mind. You have always given preference and precedence to personal interests over the state interests and your are doing it now also," he told the Badals.

"There is no government worth its name in Punjab now as everything has moved to Haryana in pursuit of illusive greener pastures," he said, adding, there was not even the symbolic presence of anyone from the government in the Punjab Civil Secretariat and the brunt was being faced by the common man.

Amarinder claimed that the Badals' only purpose in aligning with Chautalas (INLD supremo Om Parkash Chautala and his family) in Haryana was "personal and pecuniary, since they now feel that they have exhausted all resources in Punjab".

"Now they want to extend their empire to Haryana so that they can expand their business like transport, hotels, mining, liquor, cable network there also," he said.