M A I N   N E W S

Badal’s Rs 1,100-cr shocker for BJP in pre-poll year
Jangveer Singh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 13
The Punjab BJP, already in turmoil following the sacking of three ministers, is set to suffer another jolt with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal stating at a meeting of the joint SAD-BJP Legislature Party today that the proposed Rs 1,100-crore municipal infrastructure development fund may not come about.

The development fund, the pet scheme of former Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia, was envisaged to improve the election prospects of BJP legislators by spending massive funds in urban areas in the run-up to the assembly elections in the state.

According to sources, the Chief Minister said the fund may not come about. He, however, assured the joint legislature group that meetings would be held with MLAs and money given for development works wherever necessary.

BJP sources said party legislators in urban areas were banking on the development fund to bolster their image as well as to ensure a good fight to the Congress. They said the most affected constituencies would be in the Doaba belt, which has a history of returning rival parties in every election.

Kalia, who was ousted from the ministry after the CBI started investigating his and Swarna Ram’s role in a bribery scam, had been able to get an ordinance passed to make the infrastructure fund a reality. The state Cabinet had also okayed it.

The BJP had demanded the creation of the special fund after it was revealed that Rs 700 crore had been handed over to the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board to undertake development work in the Akali constituencies. The Local Bodies Department accordingly decided to create an escrow account guaranteed by the government, to attract loans for various consortia of banks.

The fund, if it had become a reality would have allowed allocation of Rs 100 crore each for the municipal corporations of Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Bathinda and Jalandhar. Eight BJP constituencies fall within the territorial limits of these corporations.

Besides this, it was targeted to allocate “A” class municipalities Rs 10 crore each, “B” class municipalities Rs 5 crore and “C“ class Rs 3 crore each.