Published on: Sept 21, 2025 06:42 am IST
The Congress leader said that chief minister Bhagwant Mann, finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema, and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal are steering Punjab towards economic collapse and the auction is a “last-ditch effort to survive politically by selling off Punjab’s future.”
Leader of Opposition in the Punjab assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa, on Saturday hit out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, accusing it of orchestrating a systematic sell-off of the state’s assets to mask its financial mismanagement.
Partap Singh Bajwa, leader of Opposition in the Punjab assembly. (HT File)
This comes after a high-powered committee shortlisted five government properties to be auctioned under the optimum use of vacant government land (OUVGL) scheme. The properties to go under the hammer include the Printing Press Colony on eight acres in Patiala, a printing press site on 10 acres in Patiala, a veterinary hospital land on 2.27 acres in Barewal Awana, Ludhiana, a sugar mill on 89 acres in Sheron, Tarn Taran, and the PWD guest house on 1.75 acres in Gurdaspur.
Bajwa said chief minister Bhagwant Mann, finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema, and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal are steering Punjab towards economic collapse and the auction is a “last-ditch effort to survive politically by selling off Punjab’s future.”
“This government has reduced Punjab to a bankrupt, mismanaged wreck. What we are seeing is not governance, but daylight robbery — looting public property to cover up their own blunders,” he said. According to the LoP, these lands are not just valuable assets but also hold potential for public use and long-term state development.
News / Cities / Chandigarh / Punjab: Mann govt selling state assets to hide its financial blunders: Bajwa
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