Chandigarh, Nov 12 (PTI) Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Friday claimed that Punjab "lost out" on investment in the Congress rule because of "anti-industry" policies of the government.

He alleged that the state has become a "victim to the Congress party's defamation of Punjabis as drug addicts".

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The SAD president was addressing a select gathering of industrialists at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here during which its Punjab unit presented a manifesto, "Making Punjab Future Ready", according to a party statement here.

CII's Punjab unit president Bhavdeep Sardana focused on ensuring transparency in government functioning, digitisation, reducing industry-government interface and ensuring stability in government policies in his keynote address.

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Speaking on the occasion, Badal said he had already initiated the agenda prepared by the CII's Punjab unit in his last term but the Congress government had "jettisoned" due to which the industrial investment climate had been "completely spoiled".

"How do you expect investors to invest in the state if the ruling party defames its own people by saying that 70 per cent of them are drug addicts," he asked.

Badal said industry confidence had also been "undermined" by the continued reference to the words "khazana khali" (empty coffers) by the Congress government and its top ministers.

Asserting that Punjab needed a positive agenda and a positive chief minister who believed in decisive action, Badal said during the last nearly five years, the Congress government has virtually gone back on all initiatives taken by the state to attract industry which witnessed big players like ITC and Cargill investing in Punjab.

The Invest Punjab initiative has been downgraded to such an extent that it remains on paper only, he said. "Industrialists now refer to it as disinvest Punjab,” he said.

The government also closed down the Right to Service Department and the Suwidha Kendras purely because these initiatives were taken by the previous SAD led government, he said.

No state can go forward if pro-people and pro-industry measures are taken back, he said, adding that they were committed to reviving the Invest Punjab initiative besides taking all other needed decisions to ensure investment flows back into the state again if the SAD-BSP government is voted to power in the state.

(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)