Punjab CM Amarinder Singh slams Harsimrat on 'langar' GST issue

Amarinder Singh

Chandigarh: Turning the tables swiftly, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday ridiculed Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal for once again citing "half-baked facts" on the 'langar' GST issue and accused her of unnecessarily dragging on the controversy even after her lies on the issue were completely exposed.

"Do you have even a clue as to what you are saying," he asked the Akali Dal leader, after she demanded immediate release of the total refund claim of Rs 3.27 crore to the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC).

Countering her latest tweet on the subject of refund of state's share to the SGPC against the state's share of the 'langar' GST for Sri Darbar Sahib, the Chief Minister lashed out at Harsimrat Kaur's apparent lack of knowledge with regard to the matter.

He also lambasted her for her failure to push for clearance of pending dues by the central government, which had released a mere Rs 57 lakh so far against its share of the pending claims.

Flaying Harsimrat Kaur for her baseless criticism against his government, the Chief Minister said it was clear that she was either completely ignorant of the facts of the matter, or was deliberately and maliciously manipulating them to further her political interests.

Pointing out that the 'langar' GST concession was notified by the Central government only on August 1, 2018, the Chief Minister said since the notification, his government had received only four bills from SGPC amounting to Rs 1.96 crore.

His government had on Tuesday cleared every single penny of these claims, as he had himself disclosed through a statement, Amarinder Singh added.

Hitting out at Harsimrat Kaur for playing politics over such a sensitive religious issue, which was close to every Sikh's heart, the Chief Minister further quipped that, unlike the Central government, of which the Akali leader was a part, his government had moved at an unprecedented pace to verify and clear the Rs 1.96 crore in claims received since the issuance of the notification.

In sharp contrast to the state government's sincerity in the matter, the Central government had, in fact, not even failed to verify all the Rs 1.96 crore in claims so far but had paid up only Rs 57 lakhs of the Rs 1.16 crore it had succeeded in verifying, he added.

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