Hoshiarpur/Daljeet Ajnoha/ August 30— Former BJP district president Nipun Sharma on Saturday launched a sharp attack on Punjab’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, accusing it of misleading village sarpanches and the public by claiming credit for grants sent by the central government under the 15th Finance Commission.
Sharma said the grants allocated under the 15th Finance Commission are funds from the central government meant for panchayats and are intended for basic development works such as roads, lanes, drains, sanitation, drinking water, street lighting and other essential infrastructure. He added that it is the state government’s responsibility only to channel these funds to the panchayats, but alleged that AAP was falsely presenting the disbursements as its own achievement.
He accused the state administration of deliberately withholding the panchayat grants for extended periods so that ministers, MLAs and AAP leaders could later distribute cheques and claim political credit. According to Sharma, delays in carrying out development works have directly harmed villages and rural residents.
The BJP leader said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann should clarify whether the money belongs to the Punjab government and, if so, how much the state has released from its own coffers for panchayats. Calling the portrayal of central grants as state funds “a direct deception of the public,” he urged transparency.
Sharma appealed to all sarpanches in Punjab to ask one question whenever cheques under the 15th Finance Commission are handed out: “Is this cheque from the central government’s grant or from the Punjab government’s own funds?” He said that if the money is from the Centre, credit must go to the central government and not to AAP’s political publicity.
He further praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, saying the Centre had been providing record sums to empower villages financially. Sharma said the BJP stands for panchayat rights, transparency and honest development, while the Punjab government is engaged only in credit‑seeking politics.
Comments
Post a Comment