Punjab Bharatiya Janata Party president Kewal Singh Dhillon on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on the Aam Aadmi Party government in the state, alleging that Arvind Kejriwal's election promise of generating ₹20,000 crore in revenue from sand and gravel mining has proven completely false.
Revenue collection far below promise
Dhillon stated that despite being in power for four and a half years, the AAP government has neither curbed illegal mining nor strengthened the state exchequer. He pointed out that in the financial year 2025-26, the government managed to collect only about ₹600 crore in mining revenue, of which nearly ₹150 crore came from taxes on mining material entering Punjab from Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. This means the revenue generated from Punjab's own mining operations was even lower.
Questioning the shortfall
Questioning the AAP government, Dhillon asked where the remaining ₹19,400 crore had gone. He alleged that tipper trucks continued to operate openly, rivers continued to be ravaged by illegal mining, yet the government chose to look the other way.
Dhillon further said that despite being rejected by the people of Delhi, those running Punjab through remote control lured people with grand promises while ending up “consuming even Punjab's sand.” He added that this was the account of just one guarantee, while the reckoning for the government's other guarantees was yet to come.
Challenge to the government
Throwing a direct challenge to the government, Dhillon said that the so-called “revolution” on whose promise the AAP came to power has now been completely exposed. Their revolution, he said, was limited to hollow slogans. Punjab's rivers were plundered, the state treasury remained empty and the people received nothing but empty promises. He asserted that the people of Punjab are now ready to hold these “false revolutionaries” accountable for their false guarantees and that villagers across the state will demand an account for every single rupee.
