BJP's Chugh demands White Paper on Punjab economy as state's debt reach ₹50,000 Cr

BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh, on September 27, asked the Bhagwant Mann government to release a white paper on Punjab's economy as the state's debt burden has skyrocketed ever since the AAP government came to power.

He said that AAP has miserably failed to rationalize the state economy as the debt on every Punjabi has started getting overbearing. In a post on X, Chugh said that Punjab's debt has reached "unprecedented" levels since AAP came to power in 2022 and underscored that the state's per capita debt is among the highest in India. 

The debt burden on Punjab has reached unprecedented levels since the AAP government came to power. The government's failure to rationalize the state economy has resulted in overbearing debt for every Punjabi. This situation is alarming, as Punjab's per capita debt is already one…

— Tarun Chugh (@tarunchughbjp) September 27, 2023

"The debt burden on Punjab has reached unprecedented levels since the AAP government came to power. The government's failure to rationalize the state economy has resulted in overbearing debt for every Punjabi. This situation is alarming, as Punjab's per capita debt is already one of the highest among Indian states," Chugh said in his post. 

Citing reports, Chugh further said that the AAP government is considering mortgaging bus stands in the state to raise funds. "Such desperate measures indicate a lack of effective financial planning and management," Chugh stated. 

He demanded that the AAP government must come clear on the matter and also define what are the financial constraints that are driving it to resort to such desperate measures. Chugh recalled how the state Governor Banwarilal Purohit had pointed out the outrageous debt of Rs 50,000 crores that the AAP government had raised in its tenure of the last two years. Earlier on September 26, BJP Punjab Chief Sunil Jakhar sounded alarm over the rising debt and warned that there will be Rs 12,000 debt per person in the state. 

Chugh said that it was unprecedented and the state government needs to explain it because Punjab cannot be held to ransom by the Mann government.