15 hours ago
Punjab's land pooling policy to benefit of Kejriwal's ‘Delhi friends', alleges Sirsa
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Delhi minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa launched a blistering attack on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, accusing him of trying to seize the land of Punjab farmers under the guise of newly launched land pooling policy by the AAP government in the state.
Sirsa, who was in Ludhiana to campaign for BJP's Ludhiana West bypoll candidate Jiwan Gupta, alleged that Kejriwal is plotting to seize land from Punjab's farmers 'and hand it over to his 'Delhi' friends'.
'Just as Kejriwal had pressured Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann to appoint his loyalists to powerful posts in the state administration, he is now engineering a systematic land grab. This land acquisition policy is not meant for Punjab's development but to transfer the land of hardworking Punjabi farmers to Kejriwal's associates from Delhi, who will profit from it,' Sirsa alleged.
'This is the same playbook used by former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, whose similar policy is now under a CBI probe,' the minister added.
He further claimed that the AAP-led Punjab government is blindly replicating controversial and failed Delhi policies.
Referring to the excise policy that led to the infamous liquor scam in Delhi, Sirsa said that under Kejriwal's and Manish Sisodia's pressure, the same model has been pushed into Punjab. 'When the probe began in Delhi, they were quick to scrap the policy there, but instead of discarding it altogether, they exported the same blueprint to Punjab,' Sirsa alleged.
Sirsa accused Kejriwal of shifting his power base to Punjab after losing political traction in Delhi. 'Today, Kejriwal uses Punjab's official cars, helicopters, and even police protection and is barely seen in Delhi. Even his staff, including his secretary, driver, and peon, are being maintained through Punjab's treasury,' Sirsa claimed.
Sirsa said that Punjab's youth are being sidelined, with Kejriwal giving preference to his Delhi cronies.
'It is disgraceful that people from outside are being prioritised in a state where the youth are struggling for employment,' he said.
Sirsa said under AAP-rule Punjab's fiscal health was worsening. 'In 2022, Punjab's debt stood at ₹2.83 lakh crore, a burden that took 50 years to accumulate. In just two years under AAP, an additional ₹1 lakh crore has been added. Punjab is now the second most indebted state in the country, with a total debt of ₹3.83 lakh crore,' he pointed out.
Reacting to Sirsa's accusations, AAP spokesperson Neel Garg stated that before 2007 no one heard about the word 'Chitta' and it was under the SAD-BJP alliance regime that the influx of drugs ruined the youth of Punjab. 'The land pooling policy is for the welfare of farmers, but the parties who support land mafia are opposing the policy,' Garg said.
