📌 Highlights
- AAP Punjab Media In-charge Baltej Pannu questioned why Congress, Akali Dal and BJP have gone silent after CM Bhagwant Mann revealed Rajasthan owes Punjab ₹1.44 lakh crore under the 1920 water agreement.
- Pannu targeted BJP Punjab President Sunil Jakhar, saying leaders who once diverted Punjab’s water to other states are now sitting together in BJP.
- Under the Mann government, canal water reaching fields has risen from 22% to 78%, and buried waterways like the Lambi Canal are being actively revived.
Chandigarh | March 19, 2026: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab State Media In-charge and General Secretary Baltej Pannu on Thursday launched a sharp attack on Congress, Akali Dal and BJP, questioning their complete silence after Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann placed evidence-backed facts on record — showing that Rajasthan owes Punjab ₹1.44 lakh crore under the 1920 water agreement. Pannu said that parties who ruled Punjab for decades compromised its water rights and today have no answers as the truth stands exposed before the people.
Opposition Has No Answer to Punjab’s Water Rights Question
“Ever since Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann presented evidence-backed facts that under the 1920 agreement, Rajasthan owes Punjab ₹1.44 lakh crore in lieu of water received since 1960, why have leaders of Congress, Akali Dal and BJP — who ruled for 70 years — gone completely silent?” Pannu asked. “These parties have no answers to the questions being raised by the people of Punjab.”
Taking direct aim at BJP Punjab President Sunil Jakhar, Pannu said, “Jakhar Sahib, the same leaders who were once in Congress with you are now sitting with you in BJP — those who carried golden and silver tools to dig canals through Punjab’s chest and divert its waters to other states. Why are you silent on those betrayals today? The people of Punjab understand the meaning of your silence very well.”
“Opposition parties are troubled by new developments because their old conspiracies and betrayals buried beneath the soil have now come to light. Those who looted and exploited Punjab for 70 years and sold its rights to other states have now been exposed.”
— Baltej Pannu, AAP Punjab Media In-charge & General Secretary
Canal Water Reach Jumps From 22% to 78% Under Mann Government
Pannu further stated that the same traditional parties that pushed Punjab to the brink of becoming barren have now been countered by the Bhagwant Mann government, which has revived the state within just four years. While earlier only 22% of canal water reached the fields, today that figure has risen to 78% — a direct result of the Mann government’s efforts on ground.
He added that canals and distributaries buried by previous governments in collusion with the land mafia are now being actively restored. “The revival of the buried Lambi Canal stands as a living example of this,” Pannu said, adding that opposition parties are now rattled precisely because decades of betrayal and concealment are being undone one by one.
Reaffirming AAP’s commitment, Pannu concluded: “As long as CM Bhagwant Singh Mann is in office, every single penny and every right of Punjab will remain fully protected.”
