Chandigarh, April 30: The ruling SAD- BJP alliance in Punjab is engaged in a tug- of- war with the Congress over the inauguration of various projects in the state.
The situation has worsened to such an extent that the state government, fearing that the Congressmen will usurp the credit for construction of a bridge over the Bhangi Choe — a seasonal rivulet in Hoshiarpur town — has deployed the police to ward off unwanted elements.
The armed guards at the bridge are an attempt by the Shiromani Akali Dal ( SAD) and Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) combine to deter Congress leaders from inaugurating the bridge which connects several towns of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.
The fear of the state government increased ever since Congress MP Santosh Chaudhary had inaugurated a bus stand in Hoshiarpur.
Construction had started during the Congress regime and was completed recently at a cost of Rs 10 crore.
The SAD had been waiting for senior party leaders to inaugurate the bus stand.
But its plan got scuppered when Chaudhary, on a recent visit to inspect the site, inaugurated the bus stand at the insistence of her party members.
This incident apart, the inauguration of a railway overbridge in Tanda by a MLA on Sunday also generated a lot of bad blood.
Sangat Singh Gilzian and his followers opened the overbridge for the public drawing the ire of the SAD, which has slapped an FIR against the MLA’s supporters.
“ The project was launched in 2006 when the Congress government, led by Capt Amarinder Singh, was ruling the state. A major work was completed by the Congress.
MP Santosh Chaudhary and I had even met railway minister Mamata Banerjee and asked her to expedite the project,” said Gilzian, who had won the assembly elections as an Independent candidate and supports the Congress.
Gilzian alleged that the SAD is now delaying the inauguration of the overbridge since they want to do it before the elections, which are due in February 2012.
Now, a wall has been erected at either end of the overbridge to prevent the public from using it.
If opened for the public, the overbridge would benefit people visiting Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Batala districts, the MLA said.
“ They would probably get it inaugurated by chief minister Parkash Singh Badal or his son and deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal,” Gilzian said.
The joust to take credit for construction took an ugly turn on April 11 when Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira and several party workers were arrested trying to prevent the inauguration of a water supply scheme by SAD leader Bibi Jagir Kaur in Kapurthala district.
The Congress leader alleged that the district administration had removed a plaque from the project unveiled by him and replaced it with another to be inaugurated by the former MLA. Khaira said the scheme, sponsored by NABARD, was initiated during the Congress regime in 2004- 05.
Khaira staged a protest while the Congress and SAD workers were involved in a slanging match on the public address system.
Kaur did not reach the venue till the Congress MLA was arrested in an apparent move to avoid a direct confrontation. She later inaugurated the scheme after police had dispersed the Congress party workers.
—Agencies