Pb in turmoil, CM & mins in Guj: Cong slams Mann

Chandigarh: Punjab Congress leaders on Monday accused the CM Bhagwant Mann-led government in Punjab of abandoning the state for campaigning in Gujarat, leaving people back home high and dry.
Punjab assembly’s leader of opposition (LoP) Partap Singh Bajwa said Mann, on every weekend, was seen campaigning in Gujarat and now even his cabinet ministers had been summoned to the western state.“People of Punjab have been left to fend for themselves; they are at the mercy of an unresponsive bureaucracy,” he said.
Bajwa’s party colleague, Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, took a dig at the AAP government for rising crime in the state. “There is a sense of fear among people that the ISI is trying to resort to selective and targetted killings in Punjab to disturb the state’s peaceful atmosphere. We have already seen a few killings, but the government remains inert and unmoved; it is instead busy in Gujarat elections,” Warring said.
He also slammed Punjab government’s ban on songs promoting gun culture. “Mere announcements about banning songs promoting gun culture or banning new weapon licences will not solve the problem, as criminals and gangsters do not use licensed weapons to target their victims and nor do they get inspired by songs,” he said.
The PCC president said the situation had been complicated with total absence of the government machinery from the state that had led to complete inertia in its functioning. “People of Punjab did not elect you for campaigning in Gujarat after abdicating your duties here”, he reminded the CM and other ministers saying. Bajwa said cabinet ministers Baljeet Kaur, Anmol Gagan Mann, Inderbir Singh Nijjar and Lal Chand Kataruchak were already camping in Gujarat for AAP, while Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal would join them on Tuesday. “Punjab is in turmoil and is passing through difficult times. On the other hand, gangsters are virtually ruling the roost and the common man does not feel safe and secure in the state, especially after the recent broad daylight murders. Abandoning Punjab at this critical juncture for the sake of Gujarat polls, especially for Bhagwant Mann, does not augur well for the state,” Bajwa added.
He saod many AAP legislators were also heading for Gujarat to get the attention of party supremo Arvind Kejriwal. Warring cited reports suggesting that Pakistan’s ISI was trying to revive militancy in Punjab.