Congress leader Baghel visits flood-hit areas in Punjab's Gurdaspur

Gurdaspur, Sep 7 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Bhupesh Bhagel, during a visit to flood-hit areas of Punjab on Sunday, said people of the state are suffering due to the political confrontation between the BJP-ruled Centre and the AAP-ruled Punjab.

He alleged that there was a "complete lack of coordination" between the state and the central governments.

Baghel, the Punjab in-charge of Congress, interacted with flood victims in Gurdaspur district. He has also met affected people in Tarn Taran, Amritsar, Ferozepur and Fazilka during his two-day visit to the state.

The former Chhattisgarh chief minister was accompanied by senior Punjab Congress leaders, including state unit president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, former CM Charanjit Singh Channi, former deputy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, MP Gujreet Singh Aujla and others during the visit.

Baghel said the floods have affected everyone, and yet the state and central governments did not sit together to provide any relief to the people of Punjab.

He said the ruling party leaders' visits to the flood-hit areas were just "cosmetic", as they had nothing to offer to the victims.

Baghel noted that there has not been any meeting held between the central and state government officials on such a great tragedy that has affected lakhs of people and damaged standing crops in more than 4 lakh acres.

This only reveals and reflects the lack of sensitivity towards the people's plight amongst both governments, he claimed.

He also questioned the reported unregulated flow of extra water into Punjab's rivers when they were already full to capacity, thus causing huge devastation after breaking the embankments.

Baghel will be submitting his report to the party leader, Rahul Gandhi.

On the proposed visit of the PM to Punjab, Warring said, while everyone would welcome his visit to the state, given the flood situation, adding that he hoped that Punjab receives adequate financial assistance.

He hoped that the prime minister would rise above politics and be generous towards the people.

Punjab Congress chief Warring recalled that during the UPA regime, the then PM Manmohan Singh was liberal in providing a financial aid of Rs 1,200 crore without any "delay or politics" even though there was a BJP-Akali government in the state. PTI CHS SKY SKY