Wikileaks: Badal Has Pushed Punjab Into Crisis

[Singh559]

http://sikhactivist.net/?p=2968

A recent article from the Times of India has exposed a recent wikileak released through mirror sites discussing Badals hand in increasing the instability of Punjab through various sectors. Below we have pasted excerpts from the article. We are currently working on accessing the original wikileak file.———————————————————————————————————————————————–

EXCERPTS

“According to leaked US diplomatic cables on the mirror websites of WikiLeaks, Punjab’s coalition government was facing a leadership crisis with chief minister Parkash Singh Badal having abdicated authority to his son Sukhbir Singh Badal.”

“It’s like a plane with no pilot. Who is in charge, Badal or Badal Jr?” the cable mentions a question being asked of the US embassy official on his visit to Punjab.

The report says the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government is in crisis becauseSukhbir Badal, who is also the deputy chief minister, regularly serves in an official capacity at the inauguration of development projects, which is riling the BJP for it believes SAD is taking all the credit.

Mulford’s report is scathing in its assessment of the SAD-BJP government’s performance: from saying thatPunjab’s human development indices in education and health are comparable to some of the most backward states, to the government’s apathy to burning issues like drug use and unemployment.

They also point out signs of decline in Punjab despite its strong agricultural sectors and nascent real estate and industrial sectors.

“The human development indices in education and health are comparable to some of the most backward states,” the cable says. Quoting bureaucrats, the cable says that several “contacts” raised the issue of rampant drug use as the number one social challenge facing the state.

“Badal will be hard pressed to meet the expectations of the Punjab electorate. He will have to devise an effective outreach strategy to convince local Punjabis that SAD-BJP is responsive to local needs or risk losing political capital to the rival Congress party,”

[HSD1]

Wow, the Americans really are wide awake when it comes to intelligence gathering and pulling points together. A hell of a lot different to how they are portrayed by the media.

As for the leaks, it shows that there are major problems in Punjab, even though so many people are willing to say everything is fine and that ordinary people are rich etc. Thank you, Singh559