Punjab Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Sunil Jakhar on Sunday (December 28, 2025) took a swipe at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, saying the government was "acting like an event management company". His remarks followed after the Punjab government called a one-day special session of the assembly on December 30, 2025 against the Centre's Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, which replaces the 20-year-old MGNREGA.
Mr. Jakhar said the AAP government was preparing for yet another "propaganda exercise". He said the Mann government has "failed" on every front and has no achievements to count. Therefore, it keeps rolling out new propaganda every day". It would be better if the government used a special session to discuss the "deteriorating" law-and-order situation in the state and to "deliberate on the frequent murders and extortion threats being reported almost daily".
Accusing the Mann government of misleading the poor, Mr. Jakhar said the dispensation had got forms filled out and thumb impressions registered, while failing to provide 100 days of employment to poor people. The AAP government is troubled since Central government is promising to stop "corruption" in the MGNREGA scheme and provide 125 days of work instead of 100.
Highlighting Union Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s recent visit to Punjab, he said people from every district highlighted “corruption” in the MGNREGA scheme. The chief minister should issue a white paper on the “corruption under this scheme" over the past four years.
During the current fiscal year, the government was providing 26 days of employment on average, whereas in the previous years, it managed just 38 days of employment on average. This "exposes" the anti-poor face of the AAP government, the drama of convening special sessions is only meant to hide its shortcomings. Mr Jakhar, referring to earlier special sessions of the Assemby, raised questions on the status of draft law against sacrilege which got sent to a select committee.
He also asked about the outcome of the special session convened after a charge that crores of rupees were being offered to AAP MLAs for defection. Similarly, the government has been silent on the status of Punjab's agricultural policy, the state BJP chief said.
"To escape accountability for this failure, the government is repeatedly calling special sessions, which will bring no benefit other than placing an additional financial burden on the people of Punjab," Mr. Jakhar added.
Punjab Cabinet Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sond on Saturday (December 27, 2025) said the new rural employment law will severely impact below-poverty-line families, Scheduled Caste communities, and rural labourers who depend on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) for survival.