Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann claims credit for Dhuri toll plaza closure, but Congress MLA Says...

Dhuri Toll Plaza Controversy, Bhagwant Mann, Dalvir Singh Goldy

Punjab Congress leader Dalvir Singh Goldy on Monday targeted Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for claiming the credit for the closure of the Dhuri toll plaza in Sangrur, saying its term was set to end on September 4. The toll plaza was illegal from day one, as it had been set up on an already constructed road, the former MLA from Dhuri seat said. Goldy said that he has been fighting against the setting up of the toll plaza since the beginning.

It was strange that the Aam Aadmi Party government was trying to claim it as an achievement when the toll plaza's term had already expired, he said.
Goldy sought to know from Mann why he never raised his voice against the toll plaza during his eight years in Parliament.

Mann, before becoming chief minister, was an MP from Sangrur. He never raised the matter, said Goldy who had lost to Bhagwant Mann from Dhuri in the 2022 state assembly polls. He claimed that Mann would earlier dismiss it as a minor issue. The Congress leader claimed that he constructed an alternate road to save people from being charged money for the shorter distance of 13 km from Dhuri to Sangrur.

Goldy added that for this he was facing cases registered from time to time by toll plaza operators.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday announced the closure of two toll plazas on the Sangrur-Ludhiana road, stating that their terms were going to expire at midnight.

The two state-highway toll plazas are located at Ladda in Sangrur's Dhuri and Ahmedgarh in Malerkotla.