Row over credit for works

The recent inauguration of a tubewell in Greater Kailash, Phagwara, by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders has sparked a political controversy, with local Congress leaders alleging that the project was originally completed under the previous Congress government in 2021.

Re-inauguration of tubewell

• A tubewell in Greater Kailash, Phagwara, was installed in 2021 under the Congress government with a Rs 34 lakh grant. It was inaugurated by former MLA Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal during Congress rule.
• A court stay, allegedly influenced by BJP leaders, blocked its operation for some time. The stay disrupted water supply to areas like Omkar Nagar, Shivpuri, and Shaam Nagar.
• The Congress leaders claim that they worked to vacate the stay and helped restore power for the tubewell.
• AAP leaders recently held a re-inauguration, which the Congress calls

  a political stunt. The Congress accuses AAP of taking false credit for a project they did not implement.

Manish Prabhakar, president of Block Congress (Urban), Phagwara, along with Block president Taranjit Singh Bunty Walia and councillor Jatinder Varmani, addressed the media on Tuesday, stating that the tubewell was installed using a grant of Rs 34 lakh sanctioned by the then Congress-led Punjab Government. According to them, the project was inaugurated at the time by former MLA Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal.

The Congress leaders further claimed that political opposition led to a court-issued stay on the tubewell’s operation, allegedly influenced by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders with support from then Union Minister Som Parkash. They argued that this legal intervention disrupted essential water supply to residents of Greater Kailash and nearby areas such as Omkar Nagar, Shivpuri, Shaam Nagar and Kirpa Nagar.

Prabhakar and Walia stated that the stay was recently vacated following efforts by Congress representatives, including councillor Sushil Maini and local resident Ramchand from Omkar Nagar. Once the legal hurdle was cleared, they said, MLA Dhaliwal actively pursued the restoration of the water supply, including making repeated calls to power utility officials to secure the required electricity connection.

“The tubewell was commissioned and activated without any involvement of AAP leaders or the current Punjab Government under Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann,” they said, accusing AAP of staging a second inauguration purely for political publicity.

In a related statement, MLA Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal cautioned residents against what he described as false claims being made by AAP leaders regarding development in Phagwara. “No substantial development has been carried out by the present government in Phagwara,” Dhaliwal alleged, adding that AAP is attempting to take credit for infrastructure projects initiated by the previous Congress administration.

He urged the Mann government to focus instead on resolving civic issues such as dysfunctional street lights, sanitation problems, clogged drains and poor road conditions. Calling the current state government “ineffective”, he appealed to the people of Punjab to unite for meaningful governance and development.

As of now, AAP has not publicly responded to the Congress leaders’ allegations.

Jalandhar