Punjab Newsline, Chandigarh/ Ferozpur/Fazilka-
Leader of Opposition, Punjab, Partap Singh Bajwa, who is currently touring flood-hit areas of Punjab along with Bhupesh Baghel, AICC in-charge for Punjab, and PPCC president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, today strongly condemned both the AAP Government in Punjab and the BJP-led Union Government at the Centre for their collective failure in handling the recent floods, accusing them of criminal negligence, corruption and hypocrisy.
Bhagel and Bajwa were joined by Congress leaders including Kulbir Singh Zira, Sukhpal Singh Bhullar, Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary, Navtej Singh Cheema, Kamal Dhaliwal, Paramjit Singh Ghawaddi, Inderjit Singh Bolaria, Parminder Singh Pinki and Sher Singh Gubaya.
Bajwa said that the Punjab–Haryana High Court has repeatedly reprimanded the Punjab Government for turning a blind eye to rampant illegal mining. The court has even highlighted the role of officers, police and politicians in collusion with the mining mafia. This illegal activity, he said, has weakened riverbanks, damaged infrastructure and inflicted irreversible environmental loss. “If illegal mining was flourishing in broad daylight for years, what was the Union Government doing? Why did leaders like Shivraj Singh Chouhan remain silent when our rivers were being looted? Their silence is complicity,” Bajwa asserted.
He also questioned the Bhakra Beas Management Board and other Union-controlled dams which failed to open their gates on time despite clear IMD warnings of heavy rainfall. “This is not a routine lapse but a monumental blunder. When the Centre fails to manage dams and the State fails to protect riverbanks, the people of Punjab are the ones who drown,” he said.
He further exposed what he called a “relief scam” unfolding in the state. Donations made by citizens are being falsely shown in government records as if they were state expenditures. Trucks and trolleys contributed by the public are being repainted and presented as official government aid. Even officers at some flood control rooms have admitted openly that such manipulations are happening. “This is nothing short of cheating the flood-hit people of Punjab. Relief is being converted into propaganda and money-making ventures, while flood grants themselves are at risk of being pocketed,” Bajwa warned.
Concluding, Bajwa said that both AAP and BJP stand guilty. “AAP has failed Punjab with corruption, propaganda and criminal negligence. BJP has failed Punjab by ignoring illegal mining, mishandling BBMB despite IMD alerts, and offering only hypocrisy. Together they have betrayed Punjab, and the people will not forgive them.”