SENIOR CONGRESS leader and former Union minister Anand Sharma on Monday asked why the Badals had grown richer and Punjab and Punjabis poorer under 10 years of Akali-BJP rule. He also warned people against the dangerous designs of the Aam Aadmi Party, saying it was playing into the hands of anti-national elements while addressing a public meeting in support of party candidate Rana Gurjeet Singh in Kapurthala. Sharma, accompanied by [b]AICC spokesman Jaiveer Shergill, asserted that people would show their anger against demonetisation in the coming Assembly election.[/b]

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The former Union minister said Kejriwal’s intentions were questionable as he wanted to remote control Punjab since he did not trust Punjabis. Besides, said Sharma, AAP had a secret understanding with the BJP and RSS as they all wanted to prevent the formation of a Congress government in Punjab. “Ten-year misrule by the Akali-BJP alliance has forced Punjab to slide from fifth to 14th position in terms of development,” he added.

The senior Congress leader said the greatest achievement of the Akali-BJP government was pushing youth into drugs, farmers to suicide and Punjab towards bankruptcy.

Similarly, industry had shut down or moved out of Punjab with about 19,000 industrial units having shut shop before demonetisation and 6,000 more afterwards. He said manufacturing growth had come down from 24 per cent in the Congress regime to 3 per cent under the Akali-BJP regime. This, he added, had led to massive unemployment leaving nearly 50 lakh jobless people in the state.

Sharma also criticised the BJP-led NDA government’s demonetisation drive, saying it was for the first time in history that the government snatched public money and made people beggars.

Lashing out at AAP and its leader Arvind Kejriwal, Sharma said his intentions were suspect. “Kejriwal is a fugitive from Delhi who only knows how to run away from his responsibilities and blame others,” he said, adding people of Delhi regretted having voted him to power.

First Publish @ http://indianexpress.com/elections/punjab-assembly-elections-2017/people-will-show-their-anger-against-demonetisation-in-upcoming-polls-anand-sharma-4488676/