The numbers game: Now,Captain hits back with debt analysis

He said the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) was well aware as to who had issued the statement in the name of the finance minister,who was not even aware about it till the last moment.

Contradicting Wednesday’s debt analysis by the FM,he said: “When Akalis took over in 1997,the total debt on the state was about Rs 15,000 crore and when they left in 2002 it had more than doubled at Rs 32,496 crores. This was despite the fact that the Centre had waived off Rs 2,433 crore. When Congress took over in 2002,the total debt was Rs 32,496 crore and it went up to Rs 47,800 crore. During their current tenure,the SAD-BJP alliance has already added Rs 23,000 crore in first three years,” he said.

In her comparative debt analysis,Kaur,too,had put the state’s burden at Rs 32,496 crore in 2002,when Amarinder assumed office,but she said it jumped to Rs 52,923 crore when he relinquished the charge,an increase of over 62 per cent. Amarinder has cited a lower figure of Rs 47,800 crore when he left office,but a higher percentage of increase,at 67 per cent.

Stating that the state government needs to correct its calculations as budgetary figures cannot be wrong,Amarinder countered the FM’s comment that he needs to get his figures right by saying: “The government seems to need an update about these figures circulated by its finance department only a few months ago.”