SAD, AAP slam Punjab CM Amarinder Singh over farm loan debt waiver issue

The Shiromani Akali Dal and Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday hit out at Chief Minister Amarinder Singh for "refusing" to extend the debt waiver scheme to all farmers.

The Punjab government had said it cannot extend the debt waiver scheme to all farmers or waive more than Rs 2 lakh due to lack of support from the Centre coupled with bad finances inherited from the Akali dispensation on Saturday.

The SAD chief, Sukhbir Singh Badal, said Singh has lost the moral right to continue as the chief minister.

The chief minister must explain why he lied to farmers and deceived them by promising them a complete loan waiver if he did not have any intention of keeping his promise, Badal alleged.

The SAD president also asked Amarinder Singh not to offer excuses for not waiving farm debt.

"The Congress election manifesto which promised the waiver was prepared after a six-month study done by present Finance minister Manpreet Badal. He should be sacked immediately for failing to plan and execute the debt waiver scheme," he said.

Meanwhile, in a joint statement here, AAP MLAs including Kultar Singh Sandhwan and Jai Kishan charged the CM for taking over the reins of the state by making false promises.

"Were they unaware about the fiscal health of the state before making promise of waiving entire debt of farmers before Assembly polls," they said.