BJP-led alliance promises to waive debt of Punjab farmers
Darpan News Desk IANS, 04 Feb, 2022 12:56 PM
Chandigarh, Feb 4 (IANS) Eyeing to woo the farmers, who constitute an influential electoral cohort, the BJP-Punjab Lok Congress-Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) alliance on Friday released 11 resolutions for Punjab Assembly polls with a promise to waive the debt of farmers having less than five acres of land.
It promised a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to families hit by terrorism, if the alliance comes to power in the February 20 poll.
Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma said the alliance government will set up a special task force to probe the sacrilege incidents and fast-track courts to try such cases.
The alliance promised to provide quality education, a government college in every tehsil and introducing the right to skill education.
Two-time Chief Minister and Punjab Lok Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh said the NDA government in Punjab would increase an ex-gratia grant given to soldiers who lay down their lives fighting for the nation to Rs 1 crore from Rs 50 lakh.
The alliance promised to introduce new technologies to curb the mining and liquor mafia and the Lokayukta to take on corruption cases, besides a task force to tackle the drug problem at the district level and a dope test for candidates contesting any elections.
About 2 crore voters of Punjab had voted the Congress, then led by Amarinder Singh, to a landslide victory in the 2017 Assembly election giving the party 77 seats in the 117-member Vidhan Sabha.
It later won three more seats in the bypolls held in October 2019, taking its strength to 80.
Assembly elections in Punjab will be held on February 20 and the counting of ballots on March 10.
The security at Jantar Mantar road in the national capital has been beefed up by Delhi police as scores of farmers are scheduled to hold a protest there against the three Union farm laws on Thursday.
In a first show of solidarity and strength, Punjab Congress unit's newly-appointed President Navjot Singh Sidhu, accompanying 62 legislators, comprising many state Cabinet ministers, on Wednesday paid obeisance at the Golden Temple here.
Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday attacked the Central government, saying that its wrong decision during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic killed 50 lakh people.
Breaking a long silence on issues ranging from local to national, former Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister and Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Wednesday spoke on diverse issues like the present political crisis in Rajasthan and Punjab and also demanded a free probe on the phone tapping issue.
Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Wednesday said that it has arrested Raj Kumar Khatri, a suave cheat who duped a Canadian citizen of crores of rupees by passing himself as the owner of an upcoming five star hotel.
At least two mobile phone accounts used by Rahul Gandhi were among the 300 verified Indian numbers listed as potential targets by an official Indian client of the Israeli surveillance technology vendor, NSO Group, The Wire has reported.
