Mohali, March 15 Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday criticised the BJP-led Centre, alleging that the country was facing an LPG crisis due to the "failure" of its foreign policy.
He said the central government should have foreseen the LPG and oil crisis and made adequate arrangements well in advance to avoid any inconvenience to the general public.
Mann also raised concerns over the "excessive centralization" of power in the hands of a few leaders at the Union government, warning that such a trend is dangerous for democracy.
He further questioned Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the "unchecked cross-border drug supply", asking him to explain the "failure" of central agencies, and cautioned that the proposed India-US trade deal could severely jeopardise the interests of farmers.
The chief minister also remarked that despite frequent foreign tours by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country is facing "worsening diplomatic ties and growing economic distress".
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the Progressive Punjab Investors Summit here, Mann stated, "Due to the failure of the BJP-led NDA government's foreign policy at the Centre, the country is facing the oil and LPG crisis."
He said US President Donald Trump, whom Prime Minister Modi describes as a "close friend", should have consulted him before waging a full-fledged war against Iran.
"However, the Union government remained unfazed about the scenario emerging out of this war, due to which the people of the country are today facing this crisis," he added.
Mann noted that the present circumstances reflect a "serious lapse" in the country's foreign policy framework.
"This is a clear failure of the country's foreign policy, and it seems that there is no such policy at the current point of time," he claimed.
Pointing to the prime minister's frequent overseas visits, the chief minister said such travel has distanced the leadership from the realities faced by people in the country.
"The prime minister is mostly on foreign tours, due to which he is not aware of the problems faced by the countrymen," he stated, adding that the situation currently prevailing in the country has never been witnessed before.
Commenting on the functioning of the Centre, he said that "excessive centralization" of authority in the hands of two or three is harmful for democratic governance.
Mann claimed that decision-making in the Union Cabinet has become concentrated in a few hands.
"Barring two 'big' figures, there is no minister in the entire Union Cabinet, and even small decisions are taken by the duo which is running the country in a dictatorial manner," he claimed, in an apparent attack on Modi and Shah.
Taking an exception to the remarks made by the Union Home Minister during his visit to Punjab on Saturday, the Chief Minister said that the statements were misleading.
"It is surprising that during his visit to Punjab on Saturday, Amit Shah spoke a bundle of lies to mislead the people and defame Punjab on the drug issue," he said.
Shah, while addressing a rally in Moga on Saturday, had accused the Mann government of being steeped in corruption and alleged that it has become an "ATM" for AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal.
Mann challenged the Union home minister to explain the "failures" of the central agencies under his control. "He must explain why the BSF and other central agencies under him have failed to check the supply of drugs from across the border."
He further stated that the remarks made by Shah were intended to divert attention from the Centre's inaction.
"The baseless statements made on Saturday were a cover-up exercise to hide his failures, as the Centre has done nothing concrete to check the drug menace across the country," the chief minister said.