CHANDIGARH: Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Monday targeted the ruling AAP in Punjab, alleging that it is creating roadblocks to obstruct his public programmes during his visits to the poll-bound state.
Saini has been frequently visiting Punjab in recent months during which he has addressed a series of public meetings. He alleged that whenever he travels to Punjab to hold events, the venues are often shifted multiple times. "At some places, tents at my events are torn down, while at others, JCB machines are used to dig up the ground to disrupt the programmes," he added.
"Buses carrying BJP workers to my events are stopped. The AAP government is doing the same thing that Mamata Banerjee does in West Bengal. In democracy, the general public don’t like such tactics. They will give their response during the elections," Saini said.
Last month, when Saini was headed to a rally venue in Ludhiana, AAP workers showed him black flags and raised slogans against him. Similarly, several AAP leaders, including MLAs, staged a protest against Saini during his visit to Amritsar, where he had to address a “Punjab Bachao rally”.
"Blocking roads, digging up roads or creating disturbances will not help them get votes from the people. Had they done some work, they would not need to block my way," he said.
Saini went on to say that the Punjab government is not functioning according to democratic principles.
"When Bhagwant Mann visits Haryana, my government never allowed anyone to show black flags to him. I asked police to give him a guard of honour and all due respect. The people of Punjab understand everything," he said.
"In Punjab, various sections including farmers and women are fed up. The government here should have done some work to address the law and order situation and the drug problem affecting youth," Saini said.
Slamming the Mann government, Saini said distributing freebies at the fag end of its tenure, while failing to fulfill promises made earlier, is not going to help as people have made up their minds to oust them in the polls.
Referring to the Punjab government’s ‘Mukhya Mantri Sehat Yojana’, which provides medical treatment of up to Rs 10 lakh per family, he said, "The Punjab government has launched a scheme providing treatment up to Rs 10 lakh, but numerous conditions have been placed, limiting the benefits patients can receive."
He added that in contrast, 27 lakh people in Haryana have got treatment under the Chirayu Ayushman Yojana.
Referring to the AAP government on Sunday announcing a new scheme under which Rs 1,000 per month will be given to general category women and Rs 1,500 monthly to Scheduled Caste women, Saini said Mann should have fulfilled the promises made to people but now when elections are months away, they are trying to rub ‘Aladdin ka chirag’ (Aladdin's magic lamp).
"In the AAP government's last budget on Sunday, they have announced ‘revris’ (freebies). During the Congress government’s time in Punjab, revri culture existed, but now the AAP is coming out with bigger revris than them and making promises, which they do not fulfill. The people of Punjab have understood this and want to get rid of AAP rule," Saini said.
In contrast, Saini said the BJP government fulfilled a key poll promise made to women of the state within one year after coming to power in their third term in Haryana. "We had said women from families having annual income up to Rs 1 lakh will be given financial assistance of Rs 2,100. Now, in this year’s budget (2026-27), we have increased the limit for eligibility to Rs 1.80 lakh annual income," he said.
Saini further said that people in Haryana are benefiting from several central government schemes, but these are not being implemented in Punjab.
