A delegation of Punjab BJP met Governor Gulab Chand Kataria at the Raj Bhavan on Friday and sought cancellation of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government's land pooling policy, which it called "illegal and unconstitutional".
The delegation, led by BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh and the party's Punjab chief Sunil Jakhar, asserted that the saffron party would not allow acquisition of an inch of farmers' land. The Punjab Cabinet had last month given its nod to the land pooling policy and asserted that not even a single yard will be forcibly acquired from land owners.
The AAP government has been facing flak from the opposition BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) over this policy.
Speaking to reporters after meeting the governor, Chugh alleged that the Punjab government under the land pooling policy intended to "grab" thousands of acres of the fertile land of farmers to strengthen the hands of the "land mafia" at the behest of AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal. Calling the land pooling policy "illegal and unconstitutional", Chugh said the BJP will now allow "dacoity" of farmers' land at any cost and added his party will hold protests against it.
The BJP leader alleged that Kejriwal has "hijacked" Punjab's democratically elected government and is running the Bhagwant Mann government "like a puppet to benefit land mafias and his close associates".
