Dewan Rips Into Mann & Bains: AAP’s Pothole Promises Drown in Ludhiana’s Monsoon Reality

Ludhiana, July 2, 2026: Former President of the District Congress Committee, Ludhiana (Urban) and former Chairman of the Punjab Large Industrial Development Board, Pawan Dewan, today bluntly asking how a government that has proved ‘thoroughly incapable’ of even running civic bodies can ever claim to run an entire state. In a cryptic tweet posted on social media handle X, Dewan wrote, “Deadline met the drizzle & collapsed. @harjotbains's grand June 30 vow of a ‘pothole & manhole' free Ludhiana has been shredded by today’s shower, which instantly transformed the city into a maze of water-filled pits & overflowing manholes. The government's promise has drowned.”

Meanwhile, standing in solidarity with the suffering of Ludhiana’s residents, Dewan in a separate statement issued today, said, “Minister for Local Government Harjot Bains’s much-hyped June 30 promise of a ‘pothole and manhole free Ludhiana’ has been shredded by today’s shower, which instantly transformed the city into a maze of ‘endless pits of water’ and ‘overflowing manholes’. The AAP government’s promise didn’t just fail – it drowned, leaving behind numerous puddles that now stand as the most unforgiving mirror of its empty rhetoric.”
Taking a sharp swipe at Bains and the AAP government, senior Congress leaders reminded that during his June 12 Ludhiana visit, the Minister had gone so far as to boast that even if the NHAI failed to clean roads under its jurisdiction, the Municipal Corporation would step in, do the job and send them the bill. “Today’s rain-soaked reality has turned that bravado into farce, clearly exposing how the AAP government’s tall claims collapse the moment they face the ground”, rued Dewan.
Dewan slammed the government, pointing out that Ludhiana today is crippled under the weight of thousands of potholes and countless manholes, many of which are left dangerously uncovered. He said Ludhiana isn’t just suffering civic decay; it stands as a living testimony to a government that can’t even cover the gaping holes of its own failures. “This is no one-off. Ever since the AAP government assumed power, Ludhiana’s residents have been condemned to misery every monsoon. Year after year, government apathy and civic collapse turn rain into a death trap. Accidents pile up, lives are endangered and yet the rulers remain indifferent,” he argued.
Disclosing that even his own constituency, Ludhiana (West), considered one of the most prominent, is crippled by potholes, overflowing and uncovered manholes and sewer backflow, Dewan accused the Mann government and MC of ‘criminal neglect,’ abandoning citizens to rot in a city sinking under their failures. He thundered that only a few months remain and the moment Congress assumes power in Punjab, not just the MC but every government department will be directed to serve the people, with officials held accountable for every lapse. Dewan gave a clear warning: ‘Once the Congress government in Punjab comes, the era of hollow slogans will end and accountability will begin.’