‘Ridiculous’, BJP trashes Punjab CM's 'no role of stubble burning in Delhi's pollution' claim

New Delhi: The BJP on Tuesday trashed Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's claim that stubble burning in the state has no role in the high levels of air pollution in Delhi as "ridiculous".

Dismissing Mann's claim, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said it is certain that stubble burning is a "major" factor (for the air pollution in Delhi).

Also read: Exclusive: Data links Punjab's fire spikes to Delhi's pollution within 24 hours

When AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal was the chief minister of Delhi, he wrote several letters to his then counterparts in Punjab as well as to the Central government between 2015 and 2021, flagging the air pollution in the capital, the BJP leader said.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Mann claimed that the image of Punjab was being tarnished unnecessarily, as the pollution in Delhi was not a result of farm fires in Punjab where paddy cultivation has been delayed.

Mann was asked about Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta raising the issue at the Northern Zonal Council meeting held in Faridabad on Monday.

At the meeting, Gupta said that Delhi's air quality was heavily impacted by regional factors, particularly smoke from stubble burning.

States like Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have shown progress in crop-residue management in recent years, but the volume of smoke coming from Punjab remained significantly high, she claimed.

Sachdeva said Mann's remark was "ridiculous" and "contradictory", which proved that his own party leader Kejriwal, who earlier complained of stubble burning in Punjab, was a "liar".

The people of Delhi want to know from Mann whether Kejriwal and (AAP leader and ex-Delhi minister) Gopal Rai falsely accused Punjab of contributing to Delhi's pollution, Sachdeva said.

From 2022 to 2024, Gopal Rai claimed that stubble burning had "decreased" by 25-30 per cent since the AAP government came to power in Punjab (in 2022), Sachdeva said.