Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal’s statements yesterday are utterly ridiculous. I am aghast, that he lied so conveniently, citing wrong facts. His statements can only mean two things-either he thinks people of Punjab are totally stupid and ignorant or his so called media advisors provide him with wrong information. How does he come up with a funny statement, that during 2007-12, Punjab’s GDP growth rate was second highest in the country?

 Everyone knows that 2007-12, is the period of 11th Five Year Plan and as per central government’s own estimates, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Uttranchal, Goa, Arunachal, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand all grew by more than 7.5 per cent claimed by the Deputy CM. While he takes a self congratulatory pat on his back, he needs to see that a state like Gujarat is growing at close to 11 per cent annually.

To be honest, the figure of 7.5 per cent mentioned by him, itself sounds very dubious. I have been a Finance Minister of the state and I never thought we were even close to this figure (which itself is a very poor standard). The figure appears to have been based on the estimates of Deputy CM’s coterie of experts and media advisors. The futility of the statement is everyone to see. An impressive GDP growth rate is buoyed by services, manufacturing and agriculture growth. Our agriculture has stagnated, our manufacturing has crippled and I do not see the any vibrant service sector economy in the state.

He also makes a grotesque statement, wherein he seeks to justify a debt of Rs 70,000 crore. How can he justify such a monstrosity? Does he know that this means that every child born in Punjab today inherits a loan of Rs 25000? Does he know that because of this humungous debt, center imposes a lot of penalties on Punjab?

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