Punjab signs knowledge-sharing pact with Delhi; Oppn slams it

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Chief minister Bhagwant Mann and his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday signed a knowledge sharing agreement (KSA) between the two states to enable them to cooperate for public welfare, a move that the Punjab opposition dubbed as a sell-out of the state’s interests.

The KSA empowers the two governments to send and receive officials, ministers and other personnel to learn and share knowledge, experience and skills for public welfare, while vowing cooperation in 19 “priority areas”, including public health, education, power and social security.

Kejriwal said: “We have inked a knowledge sharing agreement with the Punjab government, marking a new experiment in India’s history. We’ve resolved to learn from each other’s good deeds and practices in order to improve the lives of the people of Delhi and Punjab. This is a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, where the two governments will collaborate for the benefit of the people.”

Mann said Punjab will benefit from and replicate Delhi’s revolutionary endeavours. “Delhi would learn from our policies too. We will make the best use of each other’s knowledge; we will make Punjab Hasta-Khelta-Rangla (cheerful and colourful) Punjab again,” he said.

Citing an example, Mann said: “The environment minister of Delhi can visit Punjab and learn techniques and implement those in Delhi. If we had to learn from Italy, Singapore or any other country or state, we would go there to learn it and bring the same to Punjab. We don’t want to make (Punjab) Paris or London, people just want their old Punjab back,” he said.

Now, Kejriwal will run govt, says Punjab Oppn

However, the opposition parties in Punjab were quick to slam the pact, claiming that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Kejriwal would now run the state.

Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Partap Singh Bajwa termed the agreement “undemocratic” and “complete abrogation of responsibility” on part of the Punjab government. “The proposed agreement is akin to inviting the British to safeguard the Maharaja as requested by the Lahore Durbar in 1846,” he tweeted, threatening to take the fight against it to the highest court and alleged that the AAP had chosen self-interest and power over the people it proclaimed to represent.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal alleged that Mann had sold off the interests of Punjab to Delhi in the garb of the agreement, thus making Kejriwal the de-facto CM of the state.

Addressing a press conference, Sukhbir called the development a “black day in the history of Punjab” and said: “Never before in the history of the state had outsiders been given control of the state… Bhagwant Mann has hurt the pride of Punjabis and should cancel the agreement.”

The SAD president also suggested that the party would approach the Punjab governor and urge him to direct the CM to withdraw his assent to the “anti-Punjab agreement”.

The BJP called the agreement a “memorandum of surrender”. “Earlier, Kejriwal used to rule Punjab through back door; now he will be able to rule openly without any inhibitions,” said Subhash Sharma, BJP state general secretary.

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann hits back

The Punjab CM hit back at leaders of opposition parties, asking them to desist from issuing “unfounded, frivolous and politically motivated statements against his government’s landmark decisions”.

In a video message, Mann said that Sukhbir Badal had unleashed propaganda against the AAP government’s path-breaking initiatives taken to rejuvenate the health and education sectors on Delhi model. “Healthy criticism is always welcome, but criticism for the sake of just criticism and political survival is highly deplorable,” he said.

The CM also asked Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa to refrain from baseless accusations for sake of political bashing, asking him to recall the time when their party’s former chief minister was ordering posting and transfers of high-ups like chief secretary, DGP and senior bureaucrats at the instance of his “foreign guest”. “You were writing letters to the chief minister at that time showing displeasure over his autocratic style of functioning, but later you, too, were seen having lunch and dinner with him,” said Mann.

Meanwhile, AAP chief spokesperson Malwinder Singh Kang said the agreement is a new beginning which will result in a better future for Punjab. “Kejriwal and Mann are constantly making efforts and taking revolutionary decisions to improve the future of Punjab and Punjabis,” he said at a press conference.

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