Chugh welcomes HC stay on land pooling policy

Chandigarh, Aug 7: BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh has hailed the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s decision to stay the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s land pooling policy, calling it a major reprieve for Punjab’s farmers and a “moral indictment” of the Bhagwant Mann administration. Chugh described the policy as “a land grab scam masquerading as development,” alleging it lacked legal validity, farmer consent, and the necessary Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (EIA and SIA). He claimed the scheme was part of a “secret deal” between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and real estate lobbies, accusing the AAP of trying to “mortgage Punjab’s farmland in exchange for campaign funding.” “This is not a policy—it is a ponzi land grab scheme designed to hand over Punjab’s fertile lands to Kejriwal’s cronies,” Chugh charged, adding that there were no provisions for rehabilitation, legal safeguards, or transparency.

He further accused Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of acting “as a middleman for Delhi’s builder mafia,” rather than as the head of Punjab’s government.

Demanding  immediate withdrawal of the policy, Chugh warned that the BJP would launch a full-scale statewide agitation if the AAP government did not back down. “We will stand shoulder to shoulder with every farmer betrayed by this regime,” he declared.