Chandigarh, March 3 The opposition SAD and Congress targeted the AAP government in Punjab on Tuesday, accusing it of misusing the state's funds by painting state-owned PRTC buses in blue and yellow colours, which are associated with the ruling party's flag and posters.
Earlier, the government schools and hospitals were also painted in blue and yellow colours, which also drew criticism from various quarters, they said.
Now, state-owned PRTC (Pepsu Road Transport Corporation) buses are also being painted in the colours of the Aam Aadmi Party flag, they said.
Slamming the Bhagwant Mann government over the alleged misuse of government funds, Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said, "When you have nothing else to show after four years in power, you only end up revealing your true nature."
He said the "true nature" of the AAP is to "deceive and mislead people with false claims through advertisements at the expense of public funds."
Warring questioned the purpose of painting the already painted buses in "AAP colours."
"You have painted the hospitals under the name of 'Aam Aadmi Clinics', followed by schools, and now the buses," he said in a statement.
"This only shows the extreme level of insecurity that the ruling party is experiencing," he alleged.
The Punjab Congress president observed that this will be counterproductive for the AAP, as people are already fed up with the government, and they will become further annoyed and agitated when they see such things by the ruling party.
He pointed out that no government in Punjab or elsewhere in the country has ever changed the colour of the state-run buses.
"The existing colours have been there for years, and one can easily identify the Punjab Roadways bus from a distance," Warring said, adding that such actions are seen as symbols of particular states, which should not be changed at any cost.
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia alleged that the AAP government was misusing state funds by painting PRTC buses in the colours of the Aam Aadmi Party's flag.
Questioning the CM, Majithia said, "Bhagwant Mann, is this the revolution you promised to the people of Punjab? Will AAP leaders and workers also be asked to wear blue shirts and yellow pants?"
"It appears that the AAP has turned into an 'Always Advertisement Party', which has done nothing for the real development of Punjab. Instead, through widespread advertisements across Punjab and the country, the government has drained public funds and misled the people of the state," Majithia alleged.
He said that the government's time is now limited, and every single rupee of Punjab will be accounted for.
SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal also criticised the AAP government.
"The fake revolutionaries are at it again! After bankrupting Punjab, disrupting law and order, and ruining the economy, the @AamAadmiParty is busy with a repainting spree: Sewa Kendras (built by @AkaliDal) have been repainted and renamed 'sham' Mohalla Clinics. Meritorious Schools (established by Badal Sahab) have been splashed with colours. Now, PRTC buses are being painted in AAP's blue, yellow, and white," said Badal in a post on X.
"But these gimmicks won't fool Punjabis. They know that it was only the Shiromani Akali Dal that developed the State. The AAP is only good at looting and propaganda!" he alleged.