Badals running around like 'scared rabbits with no hole to hide'

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said that Badals who lead Shiromani Akali Dal SAD were running around like scared rabbits with no hole to hide fearing defeat in the Lok Sabha polls next yearFaced by imminent defeat in 2019 Lok Sabha polls Badals were running around like scared rabbits with no hole to hide said the Punjab Chief Minister on Friday adding that if they continued with their desperate efforts to cheat people they would be thrown into political oblivion forever by the electorateAmarinders remark came a day after SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said the recent loan waivers announced by Congress governments in Madhya Pradesh Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh were farceThe Punjab Chief Minister in response also urged the Akali leader to give up such theatrics if he wanted his party to remain a serious contender in the political arenaLashing out at the SAD president for his continued efforts to exploit the sentiments of farmers to whom he claimed the former regime failed to deliver even an iota of benefits Amarinder said the former deputy chief minister was trying to mislead the farming community in a desperate bid to wean it away from the CongressHe pointed out that Congress president Rahul Gandhi had already promised waiver of loans for the beleaguered farmers across the country if the party was elected to power in the forthcoming elections It was evident that the SADBJP combine was scared out of their wits by the Congress leadershipiquests promise and their track record of delivering on their poll promises in all the states in which the party had been elected to power he claimedThe Punjab Chief Minister ridiculed Sukhbiriquests blatant attempts to divert public attention from the erstwhile AkaliBJP regimeiquests failure on all counts For 10 years the Badals did not take cognisance of the plight of the farmers and were now shedding crocodile tears for them he added Having gone through extreme pain and suffering under the SADBJP government for a decade neither the farmers nor any other section of Punjabiquests populace were now willing to be deceived by the SAD leadership he saidCountering Badals baseless allegation with facts and figures Amarinder pointed out that his government had delivered on its promise of loan waiver despite the severe financial constraints and fiscal mess it had inherited from the Badal regime Not just the farmers of Punjab but those of the entire nation had appreciated his governmentiquests initiative which had been replicated now by the newly installed Congress regime in three other states he addedThe Chief Minister pointed out that his government had so far disbursed Rs 359504 crore to 428246 farmers against their debts with the process for loan waiver to 159632 small farmers also initiated Of this Rs 181578 crore had been disbursed to 317965 marginal farmers against loans taken from cooperative banks and Rs 177926 crore to 110281 marginal farmers towards loans from commercial banksThese are hard facts that no amount of fabrications by Sukhbir or anyone else can negate said Amarinder challenging the SAD president to cite even one example of any benefit provided by their government to the farmersSukhbiriquests brazen attempts to lie his way out of the current mess in which his party and leadership is caught at present were nothing more than a sign of frustration and desperation With SAD completely marginalised in Punjab and their ally the BJP also clearly losing political ground the Akali chief was looking for a way out of the political alienation which the coalition was facing ahead of the Lok Sabha elections Amarinder claimedCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever