After the reports about the Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab Government’s bid to take heavy loan came to the fore, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP), Partap Singh Bajwa on Tuesday lambasted the AAP for making deceitful claims about the fiscal health of the state.
Citing a news report Bajwa said that the AAP government is planning to take Rs 12000 crore as a debt from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in April, May and June this year. It is just the beginning of the new financial year (2024-25), and the AAP government’s poor management of the economy has been exposed.
“. In January and February of 2024, the AAP administration borrowed Rs 3899 crore, and in March of the same year, it borrowed Rs 3800 crore. Additionally, AAP took out a large loan last year. Harpal Singh Cheema, the finance minister for Punjab, boasted about submitting a budget of Rs 204918 crore for the 2024–25 fiscal year, but he failed to disclose that the administration intended to expand the state’s debt load in order to keep its commitments, Bajwa continued.
Senior Congress Leader, Bajwa said that the outstanding debt has been projected at Rs 374091 crore at the end of Financial Year 2024-25. Nonetheless, the state owed Rs 3.43 lakh crore as of the 2023–24 fiscal year. Is this the way the AAP has been running the state’s economy?
The pre-election promises made by AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to increase Punjab’s revenue from a variety of sources, such as Rs. 20,000 from mining and Rs. 340,000 by putting an end to corruption, have turned out to be empty. Meanwhile, the AAP’s false assertions regarding the economy have come to light throughout the course of its two-year reign. It has been using borrowed money to fund the government’s regular operations,” Bajwa continued.