Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh yesterday responded to state BJP president Vijay Sampla's accusations that the Congress party failed to deliver on its poll promises, claiming his government has fulfilled more than 100 promises made to the people. Singh also asked the BJP what was it doing for the past 10 years when its ally, the SAD, was "busy looting the state and plunged into an abyss of total lawlessness, unemployment, industrial and agricultural ruin, and economic devastation." 

Sampla, also the Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment, yesterday challenged the Congress government in the state to list at least nine poll promises it had fulfilled in the nine months the party had been in power. Singh said in a statement that Sampla's remarks, a day before the local body polls in Punjab, was clearly aimed at "misleading and manipulating voters". "Why did Sampla choose to come out with his outrageous allegations on municipal council poll eve," he asked. 

Polling was today held in Amritsar, Jalandhar and Patiala municipal corporations, 29 municipal councils and nagar panchayats. The ruling Congress party, the SAD-BJP and the AAP are contesting the polls on their party symbols. "If Sampla expected the Congress government to set right the damage caused over 10 years by the SAD-BJP regime in less than 10 months...then he is not only politically immature but also totally disconnected from the ways of governance," Singh said. 

"Sampla is clearly sleeping while the state government is busy implementing (its) decisions". Singh then went on to explain his government's "success" in tackling the drug problem in the state and generation of employment opportunities for the youth. He said anyone, who suffered due to the drug menace during the SAD-BJP rule, would endorse his government's anti- drugs campaign. On employment, he said job letters have been issued to 27,000 unemployed youth under the 'Ghar Ghar Rozgar' scheme.

Singh said either Sampla was unaware of these initiatives or was choosing to ignore them to further his party's agenda. "Had the SAD-BJP government undertaken less than 10 per cent of what the Congress government has done, it would have been a different story altogether," the chief minister said.