Chandigarh, Sep 10 (IANS) Punjab BJP Chief Sunil Jakhar, on Wednesday, launched a scathing attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, accusing it of presenting irrational data to secure central aid, which is ultimately harming the people now and will continue to do so in the future. Despite this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has provided Rs 1,600 crore immediate relief to the state and assured further assistance upon receiving additional proposals.

Targeting AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal, BJP leader Jakhar said, "Repeating the same lie over and over doesn't make it true." He added that such baseless and factually inaccurate reports have sidelined Punjab's real issues. BJP leader Jakhar told the media that the Chief Secretary KAP Sinha, claimed damages of Rs 13,289 crore before the Prime Minister, while Punjab Revenue Minister Hardeep Singh Mundian pegged the figure at Rs 20,000 crore.

"This arbitrary presentation of figures reflects the AAP government's irresponsible approach." The State BJP Chief said that the Punjab government demanded Rs 5,043 crore for rural development in flood-affected villages where as in 2022-23 it spent only Rs 1,156 crore in all 13,500 villages, while in 2023-24 it spent Rs 778 crore. Similarly, over the past three-and-a-half years the AAP government spent just Rs 500 crore on roads through the Punjab Mandi Board, he added.

The AAP government now demanded Rs 1,022 crore for repairing just flood-affected village roads, despite recently announcing that Rs 800 crore would be used to repair 8,000 km of rural roads, he said. These contradictory and baseless figures expose the state government's theatrics and lack of seriousness, BJP leader Jakhar added. Challenging Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's claim that the Central government owes Punjab Rs 60,000 crore, calling it "absolutely a bogus claim", he said. 

He questioned the Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema that if state government really believes that Central government owes Punjab Rs 60,000 crore then why he did not raise this issue during the GST Council meeting on September 3. Quoting Water Resources Minister Barinder Goyal, BJP leader Jakhar said the state government's claim that Rs 230 crore received from the Centre was spent on flood management before the monsoon. He added that the state government's failure to utilise these funds properly led to widespread devastation in Punjab.

BJP leader Jakhar highlighted that Rs 12,000 crore of SDRF received from the Centre has not been utilised for flood mitigation efforts but has been squandered on publicity stunts and other purposes. By citing regulations, the state government is now trying to cover up its mismanagement. He said that in 2023, CM Mann announced Rs 15,000 per acre as compensation, but only Rs 6,800 was disbursed which it received from the Central government. The Chief Minister must now clarify the source of the promised Rs 20,000 per acre compensation, he added.