Chandigarh, March 26 (IANS) A legislator of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab stirred a major controversy as he stated that the ‘step-motherly’ treatment by the state government was making Moga district as well as his constituency residents ‘feel like living in Pakistan’.
Devinderjeet Singh Laddi Dhose, AAP MLA from Dharamkot constituency, was breathing fire against his own government during the Budget Session on Tuesday, accusing it of neglecting and discriminating against this region by not allotting adequate funds for health infrastructure projects.
AAP MLA’s outburst against own government made the situation embarrassing for the Bhagwant Mann dispensation and also gave fodder to the BJP and Congress to mount an attack on the state government, already reeling under financial crises.
BJP MP Kiran Choudhry, speaking to IANS, mocked the AAP government for allowing its legislator to wash the party’s dirty linen in public.
“Such an irresponsible statement from an elected representative is uncalled for,” she said.
Objecting to AAP MLA invoking Pakistan’s reference while cornering his own government on the condition of hospitals and scarcity of doctors, she said, “It doesn’t behove any elected representative to speak in such manner.”
She also advised the party’s Punjab unit to discuss and debate the problems and hammer out solutions.
Congress MP Sukhdev Bhagat was equally critical of AAP MLA over drawing an analogy with Pakistan.
He lashed out at both the AAP, ruling party in state and BJP, the ruling party at Centre over mistreatment of farmers and said that if they can’t respect the food-producers, what could one expect from them on other issues.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mann government was roasted by some of his own MLAs, as they claimed that their constituency was being discriminated against.
Dharamkot MLA claimed that his constituency didn’t get one health-related project in the past three years and asked, “Why is this discrimination against Moga… whether Moga is part of Punjab. I feel like perhaps we are living in Pakistan.”
Kulwant Singh Bazigar, another AAP MLA from Shutrana, pointed fingers at the Punjab health minister and claimed that as many as three hospitals lacked doctors in his constituency.
–IANS
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