Residents of 30 villages hold conference against Punjab govt's land acquisition in Ludhiana
Residents from nearly 30 villages held a conference Tuesday at Dream Villa Palace in the Banohar village, Ludhiana, in response to the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority's (GLADA) decision to acquire over 24,000 acres of land to develop urban estates. Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) Punjab unit also supported this conference.
They announced that the next meeting of the SKM will be held on May 24 in Mullanpur, where the future course of action will be outlined to compel the Punjab government to withdraw the controversial notification. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali and Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira also attended the conference. The village where the conference was organised also has a portion of land set to be acquired by GLADA, according to available information.
Kanwaljit Khanna, a resident of Jagraon and leader of BKU Dakaunda, said, 'The Bhagwant Mann-led government is launching an assault on fertile agricultural land through GLADA in 53 villages in the Ludhiana, Moga, Ferozepur, and Nawanshahr districts. We will not allow it to happen.'
Addressing the gathering, legislators Khaira and Ayali and former MLA Tarsem Jodhan stated that land mafias pushed from Delhi are now exploiting Punjab under administrative orders. They condemned the land acquisition process, alleging that no proper survey was conducted and that panchayats, gram sabhas, and villagers were deliberately kept in the dark. They further accused the AAP of openly siding with corporate interests.
Ayali is the MLA of the Dakha constituency in the Ludhiana district, and many villages of this constituency are part of the land acquisition process.
Manjeet Singh Dhaner, state president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Ekta Dakaunda; Manpreet Singh, block president, BKU Rajewal; Jasdev Singh Lalto of Dasmesh Kisan Mazdoor Union, and several other farmer union leaders called on villagers to hold gram sabha meetings and pass resolutions rejecting the government's land acquisition notification.
Sukhbir Badal meets farmers
On Tuesday, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal visited villages and met farmers. He said, 'The AAP government, led by Bhagwant Mann—already a failure on all fronts and acting under the command of Delhi-based leaders—is now preparing to launch a major land grab targeting farmers' land. In the Ludhiana district alone, around 24,000 acres of land across 40 villages are being acquired under the land pooling scheme. This is a new method devised to loot thousands of crores of rupees, and the SAD strongly opposes it.'
SAD also announced that it will stage a massive protest on May 29 outside the office of the chief administrator of GLADA in Ludhiana.
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