Mann Government has given up all sense of propriety , Shamelessly Advertises Central Scheme as Its Own: Sunil Jakhar

* Chief minister published advertisements bearing his photograph and claimed credit for the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana, which is funded entirely by the Union government, Jakhar says

* AAP government is relying on central schemes to hide its failures, he alleges
* Mothers and sisters are seeking justice for sons and brothers who died because of drugs, he says

* If AAP and Congress object to the SIR exercise, why are they not filing applications with the Election Commission, he asks

Chandigarh, September 26:The Bhagwant Mann government in Punjab is trying to cover up its misgovernance and poor financial management by presenting a Union government scheme as its own achievement and wasting money on advertisements, former state BJP president Sunil Jakhar said at a press conference here.

Referring to newspaper advertisements about a ₹750 crore scheme for villages with Scheduled Caste populations, Jakhar called the advertisements fraudulent. He accused the AAP government of openly lying.

Jakhar said the money was actually being provided under the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana. He described it as a 100% centrally funded scheme, under which the Union government bears the entire cost and the Punjab government makes no financial contribution. He said the scheme has operated in its present form since 2020–21 and provides development grants to villages where Scheduled Castes make up more than 40% of the population.

According to Jakhar, 3,763 villages in Punjab were identified under the scheme by the Union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said the Centre had already sent funds for 1,200 villages and was expected to release funds for the remaining villages soon. The grants can be spent on the development of those villages, he said.

Showing reporters large advertisements bearing Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s photograph, Jakhar called the move “the height of shamelessness” and said it reflected Mann’s desire to publicise his image. He alleged that the state government had done nothing on its own for village development but was spending public money on advertisements to claim credit for a Union government scheme.

Jakhar demanded that the Punjab government apologise immediately. He also said the BJP would investigate whether funds released earlier had reached the villages concerned or had been spent by the Mann government on advertising before reaching them.

Speaking about women in families devastated by drugs in Punjab, Jakhar criticised the Mann government’s Mawan Dhian Satkar Yojana (“Respect for Mothers and Daughters Scheme”). He said the government was instead showing disrespect to mothers and daughters. Women were seeking justice for sons and brothers who had died because of drugs, he said, while the government was humiliating them by offering ₹1,000. He suggested renaming it the Mawan Dhian Tiraskar Yojana (“Disrespect for Mothers and Daughters Scheme”).

Turning to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Jakhar said the protests by Congress and AAP were aimed at attracting newspaper headlines. If the parties had complaints about deleted votes, he asked, why were they not filing objections with the Election Commission? He claimed that 20,000 votes had been deleted in his Abohar area, but that neither Congress nor AAP had filed a single objection with the commission there.

Jakhar said 2,066,635 votes had been deleted during the SIR exercise. He stated that 574,568 of those voters had died, 412,715 were absent, 944,131 had permanently moved and 119,145 were duplicate voters. He said the Election Commission had provided time for voters to file objections and have their names restored. Objections concerning discrepancies in names on the voter list were also being accepted and corrected, he added.

Jakhar accused Congress of holding protests merely for photographs. Calling the exercise a clean-up of the electoral rolls, he urged anyone with an objection to submit an objection. He alleged that, instead of filing objections, the parties were holding demonstrations to divert attention.