Punjab most indebted state in India: Navjot Singh Sidhu

Chandigarh: Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Navjot Singh Sidhu on Monday said that Punjab is the most indebted state in India and the debt accounts for 50 per cent of the State GDP.

Taking to Twitter, Mr Sidhu said, "Today, Punjab is the most indebted state in India. Debt accounts for 50 per cent of State GDP. Half of our expenditure is funded by expensive debt. Let''s not derail from real issues to which every Punjabi and party worker demands a solution, because there's #PunjabBeyond2022 #HaqiqatPunjabDi"

The Congress leader said that financial accountability and transparency are pillars of Punjab Model.

"Financial Accountability and Transparency are pillars of Punjab Model. Accountability demands revealing sources of funds at every scheme announcement, whether from income or from more debt. Transparency demands making public state''s fiscal health every month," tweeted Mr Sidhu.

"Borrowing is not the way forward! Taxes should not go to settle the debt but go back to the people in the form of development. Solution-oriented model is to stop the theft of State's resources, fill up public exchequer and create a Welfare State through income generation," Congress leader tweeted.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national general secretary Tarun Chugh on Monday said the internal dispute between Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi is causing trouble for the state and the people every day.

"Earlier it used to be the Captain-Sidhu dispute which had made the Punjab government paralysed. Now it is the internal dispute between Navjot Singh Sidhu and Charanjit Singh Channi. Sonia Gandhi has once again put the responsibility of Punjab Congress in Sidhu's hands and this dispute is troubling Punjab and Punjabis every day," Chugh told ANI.

Punjab Assembly elections are scheduled to take place next year.

In 2017 Assembly polls, Congress won an absolute majority in the state by winning 77 seats and ousted the SAD-BJP government after 10 years. Aam Aadmi Party emerged as the second-largest party winning 20 seats in 117-member Punjab Legislative Assembly. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) could only manage to win 15 seats while the BJP secured 3 seats.