Jalandhar, May 05: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Dr Jitendra Singh on Friday said that Punjab’s abundant resources were squandered by corruption and lawlessness.
Addressing a traders’ meet in the course of the BJP election campaign for the Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-poll, Dr Jitendra Singh said, “In the last 9 years, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi was able to transform the most neglected areas like Northeast and Jammu & Kashmir into viable regions generating revenue and business, here, on the other hand, Punjab could not take the benefit of Modi’s progressive and developmental agenda because it was not allowed to be translated on the ground by the vested interests in the State.”
The Union Minister said that Punjab has traditionally been a resource-rich state not only agriculturally but industrially as well and Punjab enjoyed its own place of glory even in pre-independence times in the entire undivided India. “But the blatant corruption at all levels in the last few years not only drained out Punjab’s resources at the cost of the common man to just fill the coffers of a handful few. This, in turn, also hampered the growth of Punjab’s industry,” he added.
Dr Jitendra added, “Jalandhar being an important industrial city, deserves representation which will contribute to the promotion and restoration of industrial growth of the region. The earlier MP who represented Jalandhar for the last nine years followed the Congress party’s dynastic agenda and did not contribute anything to ensure that Modi’s welfare schemes, industrial benefits and incentives would reach the last mile as they did in the other parts of the country.”
Jalandhar being an important Lok Sabha constituency, it would be in the interest of the people of Punjab that it has a representation that works in tandem with the Modi government and carries the benefits to everyone, he said.
“This by-poll will be a turning point and the BJP victory in this poll will pave the way for the Lok Sabha election of 2024 and the subsequent Punjab State Assembly election in 2027 which will install a double engine government in the State,” he said.
Dr Jitendra Singh promised that the benefits of “ease of business” provided by PM Modi will soon be seen here as well and Punjab’s as well as Jalandhar’s export business will register an upward trend. “It is the joint responsibility of all of us to restore to Punjab its deserved progressive economy and its traditional ethos of peace and brotherhood,” he said.
