Chandigarh: Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon on Tuesday slammed the Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab govt over “its failure to manage crop residue”.




Dhillon said, “AAP cannot escape its four-and-a-half-year record in Punjab by staging press conferences to blame Delhi.”




“On Nov 4, 2022, Arvind Kejriwal publicly accepted responsibility for farm fires alongside chief minister Bhagwant Mann , seeking one year to resolve the crisis. Over four years into its tenure, the Mann administration has failed to provide accessible alternatives, leaving farmers stranded,” he said.




Dhillon asked, “What happened to the Pusa bio-decomposer heavily promoted by the AAP? How many acres were sprayed, what was the state-level expenditure, and what measurable results were achieved? Where did the Rs 2,056.50 crore go?”




Claiming that “the Central govt released Rs 2,056.50 crore to Punjab under the Crop Residue Management (CRM) Scheme up to 2025–26”, the BJP functionary asked, “Where has every single rupee been spent, and how much has actually reached farmers?”




Pointing out that the agriculture department claimed 94,456 CRM machines were deployed, the Punjab BJP chief asked, “How many are operational, how many Custom Hiring Centres are functional, and how many marginal farmers can actually access these during the sowing window?”




He further stated, “While Haryana provides Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200 per acre to its farmers, why did the Punjab govt fail to fund its promised Rs 2,500-per-acre cash assistance independently?”




Dhillon also asked, “Why is the Mann govt booking small farmers under police sections and making punitive red entries in revenue records to conceal its own administrative paralysis?”




He demanded an immediate, independent audit of CRM machinery funds, an immediate rollback of punitive red entries against farmers, and practical per-acre financial support.