Flood devastation in Punjab due to failure of AAP, central govts: Baghel

Chandigarh, Sep 6 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday said the devastating floods in Punjab occurred because of the "failure" of the state and the union governments, due to which the entire state was facing its "consequences".

Baghel visited flood-hit areas in Amritsar and flagged off truckloads of relief material for affected areas.

He was accompanied by Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Amritsar MP Gurjit Singh Aujla and other party leaders.

Speaking to the media in Amritsar, Baghel, the Congress's Punjab in-charge, claimed state authorities were not providing any information about the crop damage, loss of human lives and livestock.

The former Chhattisgarh CM further alleged that no relief material was being provided to flood-hit areas by the state government.

"How can the state and central governments be so insensitive? There is no tweet from the Prime Minister about flood-hit areas. The people of Punjab have been left on their own," he claimed.

Baghel said Congress MLAs, MPs and workers are engaged in providing relief material to the affected people.

Meanwhile, former CM and MP Channi took a swipe at the AAP government, saying it was "sick and hospitalised." "It is not the CM who is sick. It was the AAP government and AAP which has fallen ill and is hospitalised," he said. Channi also claimed that the Punjab government postponed its cabinet meeting on the floods because of an "internal rift".

CM Bhagwant Mann was hospitalised on Friday evening after he complained of exhaustion and low heart rate. On Friday, the meeting of the Punjab cabinet, which was to be chaired by Mann, was postponed after the chief minister fell ill. PTI CHS SKY SKY