Congress on its deathbed, will be finished very soon: Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann

ABOHAR. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Sunday wrote off the Congress as a party “on its deathbed”, and mocked its central leaders for not knowing how to pronounce the names of the Punjab leaders they are sent to reconcile.

“The Congress party is on its deathbed and will be finished very soon, as it has no vision for the people and the state,” Mann told a rally in Abohar. “It is a pity that the top Congress leaders who come to unite these leaders squabbling for power are not even aware of how to pronounce their names.”

He called the state Congress “a divided house” whose leaders are always at loggerheads. “Congress leaders are daydreaming about assuming power in the state, but the party will collapse due to its infighting. Its only aim is to plunder the wealth of Punjab,” he said.

‘Akali Dal reduced to Badal family’

The Akali Dal, Mann said, “failed to answer for the painful incidents of sacrilege” and has shrunk to the Badal family and a few close aides. He accused the SAD, Congress and BJP of having nothing to offer Punjab and being “hand in glove” only to grab power and guard their own interests.

Abohar, he said, had been held back for years by family-run politics. “The people of Punjab have already made up their minds to give the Aam Aadmi Party another opportunity to serve the state in 2027,” Mann said. “They have trusted me so far, and I hope they will continue to repose their faith in me.” Voters, he added, would answer the opposition’s “misleading propaganda”.

₹1,291 crore credited to 37.43 lakh women

Mann was speaking at a function of the Mukh Mantri Mawan Dheeyan Satkar Yojna, where ₹1,291 crore was sent into the bank accounts of more than 37.43 lakh women. Phones across the state rang with the “toon-toon” of bank SMS alerts as the money came in.

The next instalment is due on December 1. On January 1, three months’ assistance will be credited together to eligible women, a payout Mann called a “New Year gift”.

Total payments under the scheme now stand at ₹3,934.80 crore, including ₹2,643.71 crore paid earlier to 76.35 lakh women. General category women get ₹1,000 a month; Scheduled Caste women get ₹1,500.

“This scheme is not merely financial assistance but a social revolution,” Mann said, adding that cash in their own hands lets women take their own decisions and live with self-respect.

He said women from Akali and Congress leaders’ own families were drawing the money, even as those leaders attacked the scheme to please their party bosses. “The money belongs to the common people, who contribute to the state exchequer through their taxes. When ordinary citizens pay taxes, they have every right to receive quality facilities in return,” he said.

As of October 29, 80.05 lakh women had registered against a target of one crore, which Mann expects to reach by January. No family is capped. “Even if three eligible women belong to the same household, all three will receive the benefit,” he said. At ₹12,000 crore a year, he claimed, it is the first scheme in India to pay all women without conditions.

The 1,37,723 Satkar Sakhis who helped women register will get ₹51.30 crore in incentives, and Anganwadi workers ₹25 crore.

Mann’s claims on jobs, power, schools

– 70,685 government jobs given “without any cash, favouritism or political recommendation”

– 54 lakh health cards under the Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna, with ₹10 lakh cover; Aam Aadmi Clinics opened

– 300 free power units a month for 90% of households; daytime supply for farmers

– Toll plazas shut, saving ₹70 lakh a day

– 3,100 sports stadiums under construction to keep youth away from drugs

– 45,000 km of roads being upgraded; grants for village development

“Our focus is on transforming people’s lives rather than indulging in political theatrics,” Mann said.

Government school students clearing NEET rose from 80 in 2021 to 882 in 2026, he said, claiming Punjab had overtaken Kerala in education on the strength of teacher training and Schools of Eminence. “No freebie or concession card can eliminate poverty or other social maladies in the state. Education is the key,” he said.

Canal water has reached 1,587 villages for the first time, Mann said. With ₹7,200 crore spent, canal-irrigated land has grown from 20.89 lakh acres in 2022 to 60.30 lakh acres, taking coverage from 26% to 80%.