Amarinder Singh said AAP does not care for welfare of the agricultural community. File
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today slammed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over its criticism of his government's decision on debt waiver for farm labourers and landless farmers, saying it exposed the opposition party's "anti-farmer stance".
AAP had termed the Punjab government's recent decision of waiving Rs 590 crore worth loans under a farm debt waiver scheme for labourers and the landless farmers as a ploy to fool people ahead of the Assembly polls next year.
"The AAP criticism of my government's decision on debt waiver exposes Arvind Kejriwal's party's anti-farmer stance," the CM said in a statement.
At the same time, Amarinder Singh said, their reaction is on expected lines "considering that the party (AAP) had never shown any interest in doing anything for the farming community".
"The Kejriwal government in Delhi was among the first to notify one of the controversial and draconian farm laws of the central government. The fact is that AAP does not care for the welfare of the agricultural community and is opposed to any decision that is in favour of the farmers," he alleged.
He reminded AAP that the debt waiver for farm labourers and landless farmers was not an announcement made on the eve of the 2022 Assembly polls but a promise contained in the Punjab Congress manifesto.
Despite the severe financial constraints faced by the state government and compounded by the Covid pandemic, he was committed to the implementation of each of the 2017 election promises, the Chief Minister asserted.
He further claimed that even after six years of AAP in power, the people of Delhi were deprived of even basic amenities like water and healthcare facilities.
"The much-touted Delhi model of governance has proved to be a total failure," he said, adding that neither Punjab nor any other state wanted a slice of it.
Ridiculing Mr Kejriwal's promise of free power units in every state he is visiting to kick off the party's poll campaign, the Chief Minister dubbed him "as a master of manipulation".
"Even in Delhi, where AAP government claims to be giving free power, an analysis of the data shows that what the citizens of the national capital are getting in terms of relief in power costs was actually less than in Punjab, apart from the fact that the farmers of Delhi had got not a paisa worth of support or relief from the Kejriwal government," he claimed.
"It is evident that AAP had manipulated the figures to spread misinformation - an art they have mastered," he alleged.