Congress slams Government for asking Punjab to foot bill for forces

NEW DELHI: Congress today dubbed as "travesty" the Centre's move to bill Punjab for deployment of paramilitary forced in the wake of the Pathankot terror strike and made a strong pitch for waiver of all militancy related dues of the state.

"Travesty to bill Punjab for #anti-terror operations ALL Militancy related dues of Punjab need waiver Punjab's fault Pakistan is its neighbour (sic)," party spokesman Manish Tewari said on micro-blogging site Twitter.

Punjab government has refused to pay a bill of Rs 6.35 crore that the Centre sent as payment for the paramilitary forces deployed during the Pathankot terror attack in January.

In a communication to the Center, the state government has said that the deployment of these units was in "national interest" and "expenditure thereon should not be billed to the state government", officials said here.

NDA constituents Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP are in power in Punjab.