GMADA raids put AAP’s Punjab politics under pressure

AAP rejects ED allegations, questions timing and conduct of prolonged GMADA searches.

The Enforcement Directorate’s prolonged searches at the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) have opened a new political front for the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab, with the 2027 Assembly elections now providing the backdrop to an increasingly bitter confrontation between the state government and the BJP-led Centre. The ED’s operation that went on for more than 50-hours has turned an investigation into alleged irregularities in GMADA’s land dealings into a wider political controversy involving the functioning of the Punjab government, senior AAP leaders and the Centre-state relationship. The agency has alleged irregularities in land acquisition, auctions, compensation and other transactions involving GMADA. It has also claimed that the reduction of reserve prices of certain unsold land parcels could have resulted in a potential loss of nearly Rs 10,000 crore to the authority and the Punjab government.