An official and a cop are standing in the middle of a Punjab farm field, silhouetted by smoke rising behind them. The picture is being presented with contrasting interpretation by the BJP and the ruling AAP in the state, teeing off the latest row between the two rival parties.
Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa accused the Punjab government of deliberately encouraging stubble burning to worsen pollution in the national capital. “BJP can stoop to any level, even lie blatantly, to defame Punjab’s farmers and cover up the incompetence of its own government in Delhi. A photograph showing officials extinguishing a stubble fire is being twisted to make it appear that Punjab Police was enabling it. Mr. Sirsa, stop manufacturing lies about Punjab’s farmers and police and answer why your BJP govt has failed miserably in controlling pollution in Delhi despite no stubble burning in Punjab,” the AAP posted on X, with a news report suggesting the same.
Sirsa pointed to Delhi recording 220 ‘Good to Moderate’ air-quality days between January and October, a figure confirmed by the Union Environment Ministry. October’s average AQI stood at 166. Punjab reported 1,612 farm fires between September 15 and November 2, according to official figures. Tarn Taran accounted for 489 incidents, followed by Ferozepur with 193 and Amritsar with 192. The AAP-led Punjab government has previously cited a decline in farm fires from 36,663 in 2023 to 5,114 in 2025.
“They claim that no stubble burning is taking place,” he said, adding that more than 1,000 incidents had been reported.
