The Shiromai Akali Dal on Monday labelled the Congress manifesto as vision-less and alleged that the it was running away from continuing free power to farmers and Atta Dal scheme to 20 lakh poor families in the state. Without laying a future road map for Punjab,the manifesto is focussed on SAD,whose policies it has copied. Congress has promised to continue the policies of SAD government but the state Congress chief Amarinder Singh has already made clear in his rallies that he would stop all the projects initiated by SAD, party president Sukhbhir Singh Badal said. He said that people have now seen the double face of Amarinder and had no faith in Congress manifesto,which has deliberately avoided using the term free power so that it could discontinue free power if it forms the next government. He said the manifesto has made a hue and cry over poor financial situation of Punjab so that it could get an alibi to discontinue the welfare schemes for the economically weaker sections of society. The party,which scuttled the Lokpal bill in Parliament,would never want a Lokpal to keep a check on its leaders corrupt activities. In a separate statement,his wife and Bhatinda MP,Harsimrat Kaur Badal,said that the Congress party has no will power to continue Atta Dal scheme under which 20 lakh poor families were getting Atta (flour) at the rate of Rs 4 and Dal (pulses) at the rate of Rs 20. She said that the Congress manifesto states that the scheme scheme would continue only for the needy family,which indicates that it would be available only for those BPL families who would qualify Centres norms. She said that the Centre has made mockery by defining BPL family as one which earns less than Rs 26 per day. In Punjab hardly any family would qualify that norm.
