India News | Amarinder a 'U-turn' CM: Dushyant Gautam

New Delhi, Mar 3 (PTI) BJP general secretary Dushyant Gautam has dubbed Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh a "U-turn CM", alleging that after forgetting his poll promises he is now even going back on his own words.

Gautam, who is in-charge of BJP affairs in Punjab, said Singh had promised to end the VIP culture in the state but has now taken a U-turn on that too.

"After taking a complete U-turn on the electoral promises made by Amarinder Singh before coming to power in Punjab, now the chief minister has 'barefacedly' taken a U-turn on the decisions taken as the CM of the state," he said in a statement.

Gautam recalled how the chief minister through a Punjab government order of April 14, 2017, had said, "Taking another major step towards the elimination of VIP culture from the state, Punjab CM Amarinder Singh has prohibited the inclusion of names of any government functionaries, including ministers and MLAs, on foundation stones and inaugural plaques.

"The CM himself is not excluded from these orders, which are aimed at building a stronger connect between the government and the people by removing the VIP culture barriers."

Gautam expressed dismay that cabinet ministers, MPs, MLAs and even IAS and IPS officers have blatantly flouted the decision of the chief minister numerous times.

"Today, we will quote three instances from Punjab government's official press releases, which clearly shows that the CM himself is violating his own orders," he said.

As per a state government release, on October 25, 2020, on the occasion of Dusshera, Amarinder Singh laid the foundation stone for many important development projects, including the first sports university of Punjab, Maharaja Bhupinder Singh Punjab Sports University and new bus stand in Patiala.

Gautam said the photographs of this event clearly show that the name of the chief minister is inscribed on the foundation stone.

Similarly on May 30, 2019, claiming to further propel industrial growth and to catalyse employment generation in the state, Singh laid the foundation stone of a vegetable processing plant, wherein again the foundation stone, clearly mentions the name of chief minister, the BJP leader said.

Quoting another instance, Gautam said on February 3, 2021, the chief minister virtually laid the foundation stone of Sardar Bahadur Amin Chand Soni Armed Forces Preparatory Institute at Hoshirapur's Bajwara village.

"In this case too, the name of the Punjab chief minister, who keeps beating drums of high morals, is there on the foundation stone, thereby completely exposing him," asserted Gautam.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)