Soon after leader of Opposition Sukhpal Khaira made allegations against Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, Punjab Government dismissed it as totally “baseless, fabricated and malicious” in the matter of land purchase in Siswan Village area of Mohali.

lashing out at Khaira for spreading “mischievous and deceitful propaganda” on the issue, Chief Minister’s Media Advisor Raveen Thukral on Tuesday said that the land purchased by Capt Amarinder was not in Palanpura, as was being projected, but in Siswan, which had been denotified by the erstwhile SAD-BJP government under the Punjab land Preservation Act (PlPA) way back in 2011.

Khaira should have done his homework and got his facts right before resorting to wild allegations, said Thukral.

Khaira was, as usual, engaging in brazenly unfounded and spiteful personal attacks on the Chief Minister by resorting to blatant falsehoods, said Thukral, adding that the allegations of Conflict of Interest and breach of oath of office and secrecy, made by the AAP leader, smacked of cheap and dirty politicking.

Except for Khasra numbers 174 and 175 (which amounted to 3 Bighas and 19 Biswas), the remaining land, measuring 24 Bighas and 6 Biswas, had been denotified in 2011. The two Khasras that are still under PlPA can only be used for forestation, Thukral said, in a statement issued here.

So there was no question of any violation of the law, said Thukral, while adding that, in any case, the primary purpose of the purchase by the Chief Minister was agricultural, with a cottage being planned for construction as a farmhouse. The bulk of the plot, even though not covered by PlPA, would have a tree cover, as envisioned by Captain Amarinder, said the Media Advisor