It is deeply shocking and unacceptable that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has once again insulted the people of Punjab by surrendering the state’s vital institutions to outsiders. The recent appointment of Deepak Chauhan, a non-Punjabi—reportedly from Uttar Pradesh and a personal assistant to Rajya Sabha MP Sandip Pathak—as Chairman of the Punjab Industrial Development Corporation is a slap in the face of every Punjabi who has tirelessly supported and built the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the state.
This appointment is not only an affront to the hardworking volunteers of the party but also a glaring indication of AAP’s bankruptcy in leadership within Punjab. Are there no capable individuals among the sons and daughters of Punjab to be trusted with such a crucial position? Why must we rely on those with no emotional, cultural, or social ties to our soil?
We at NAPA strongly believe that such decisions are not just political missteps but deliberate attempts to undermine Punjab’s autonomy and identity. This is precisely why we have been advocating for a law, similar to those in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Gujarat, barring non-Punjabis from buying land, becoming voters, or taking up government jobs in Punjab. Punjab must not be reduced to a colony managed by outsiders with no regard for its heritage or people.
To make matters worse, the state government has now appointed Reena Gupta, a Delhi-based bureaucrat and former advisor to the Delhi government, as Chairperson of the Punjab Pollution Control Board. This back-to-back handing over of Punjab’s key industrial and environmental positions to non-Punjabis shows a deliberate strategy to tighten Delhi’s grip on Punjab’s internal affairs. These appointments are nothing less than an act of betrayal, and suggest that the government wants to run Punjab through its Delhi-based henchmen, ensuring unregulated exploitation and unchecked loot of our state’s resources.
We demand an immediate cancellation of both these mischievous and ill-intentioned appointments. Eminent Punjabis—people who understand our challenges, culture, and aspirations—must be given the responsibility of leading our institutions. Bhagwant Mann must explain to the people of Punjab why he is so willing to surrender our state’s sovereignty to political operatives from Delhi.
NAPA will not remain silent while Punjab is being compromised. We call upon all Punjabis to raise their voices against these dangerous decisions that threaten our future.