Badals suffering from selective hearing and amnesia': Amarinder Singh

Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh today accused the Badals of suffering from selective "hearing and amnesia", countering their allegation that he had backtracked on his farm loan waiver promise.

The Badal father-son duo seem to be suffering from selective "hearing and amnesia", Amarinder said today.

In a statement issued here, the chief minister said that Badals had a propensity for "misleading" the people with their "senseless and baseless" statements against their political rivals, particularly the Punjab Congress.

Their latest statements contesting his government's commitment to farm debt waiver were not only unfounded but also contradictory to the established facts that were in public domain, he said.

The Chief Minister said unlike the Badal regime, which had "failed" to take up any measure for the welfare of the farmers in the state during 10 years of their rule, his government initiated a time-bound process to waive off their loans in less than 10 days of taking over the state's reins.

In fact, said Amarinder, his government initiated a series of people-oriented measures to bring about transparency and governance in the systems, which the Badals had transformed into a "den of corruption and mafias".

Referring to his meeting with the Prime Minister on the issue, the Chief Minister pointed out this was not the first time he had met Narendra Modi to demand waiver of farm loans.

The Congress is committed to secure farm loan waivers for farmers not just in Punjab but around the country, he said.

He pointed out that he had been part of the delegation led by AICC vice president Rahul Gandhi that met the Prime Minister before the assembly elections to seek relief for the distressed farmers in the country.

However, the Badals, with their "selective memory", had conveniently forgotten about this fact while accusing me of cheating the farmers on the debt waiver issue, Amarinder said, adding that the Akali leaders should check out the facts before making such unsubstantiated statements.

The Chief Minister said that while his government was totally committed to fulfil its promise on farm loan waiver in Punjab, he would be happy if the central government also takes urgent steps to alleviate the sufferings of the debt-ridden farmers around the country.

His party, said Amarinder, was cognisant of the plight of farmers in all parts of the country and was striving to resolve their problems with the support of the central government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In contrast, the Badals, who were totally "unmindful" of the problems facing the farmers of their own state, could not possibly be expected to show any concern for farmers in other states, he added.