Baba Bakala (Amritsar), Aug 9 (PTI) Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring on Saturday lashed out at the Aam Aadmi Party government, accusing it of pushing the state into "total anarchy and lawlessness as the state has turned into a gang-land." Addressing a political conference organised on the occasion of the Rakhar Punia here, the Congress leaders including Warring, former deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, former minister Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla, and former MP Jasbir Singh Dimpa asserted that the "intimidation and persecution" the Congress workers were subjected to by the AAP government will neither be forgotten nor forgiven.

Speaking on the occasion, Warring strongly opposed those people who were trying to raise the "bogey of Khalistan" in Punjab.

He said such divisive and anti-national ideology was not acceptable to the common Punjabis. "Yes, we have to fight against the Centre for Punjab, Punjabi and Punjabiyat, but only as being part of our country not separately," he said, while adding, Punjab is the strongest pillar of the nation.

The Punjab Congress president criticised the AAP government, alleging it pushed Punjab towards "doom and bankruptcy".

He said while the economy was "completely shattered" as the debt had risen to about Rs 5.25 lakh crore, the law and order was at its "worst and gangsters were ruling the roost." He claimed that during the last three and a half years of the AAP rule, there was no fresh investment in the state. Rather, several businessmen had moved out due to security concerns, he further claimed.

There was an atmosphere of fear prevailing in the state and people were feeling scared and threatened, he said as he targeted the state government over the law and order issue. PTI CHS MNK MNK

Law and order deterioration alleged to have turned the state into a gang-land, prompting sharp political condemnation. Allegations that law and order has deteriorated allege gang influence, widespread intimidation, and a climate of fear displacing public safety and prompting business departures, while separatist rhetoric is rejected and regional grievances are urged to be pursued within the country's constitutional framework.