Punjab govt has limitations, says CM Parkash Singh Badal

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal (centre) and Cabinet Minister Bikram Singh Majithia (extreme right) at the SAD rally on Saturday. (Source: Express photo by Rana Simranjit Singh)

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Saturday said people need to understand that the state government does have its limitations when dealing with certain issues, particularly those related to farmers. Speaking on the occasion of Rakhar Puniya at Baba Bakala, Badal said: “It is our fate that many rights related to farming, including MSP of crops, are in the realm of the central government. You should understand that there are some things which we can do on our own while many others are not under our control,” the chief minister told the gathering at the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) conference here. He, however, promised to solve the issue of sugarcane farmers within ten days.

The statements are in stark contrast to the ones made the by chief  minister before the Lok Sabha elections last year, when he had claimed that an NDA government at the Centre would immensely benefit Punjab.

Badal did, however, list his government ‘achievements’, particularly on the power front. “Our government has made Punjab a power-surplus state and now we are worried about where to sell this power,” he said.

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The chief minister also gave credit to the Modi government for giving Punjab an AIIMS, an IIM, heritage statu

to Amritsar, inclusion of Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana as smart cities among others.
Taking a dig at AAP, Badal accused it of exploiting people’s sentiments by “showing them a political mirage”.