Mann's oath at the cost of 40 acres of wheat crop!

Chandigarh: At least 40 acres of wheat crop is being ploughed for swearing-in ceremony of AAP's Chief Minister-designate Bhagwant Mann, who sports a yellow turban for his reverence to legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh to whom he calls his 'only idol, only mentor and only hero', to be held in the icon's ancestral maternal village in Khatkar Kalan on March 16, it is learnt.

The debt-ridden State government has sanctioned Rs 2.61 crore for the swearing-in ceremony.

Officials told IANS the wheat fields will be used for the parking of vehicles of the visitors coming to attend the ceremony that will last less than an hour. The farmers have been told to plough the standing crop, which is yet to mature, and in lieu they will be paid a compensation of around Rs 46,000 per acre. Officials did not rule out converting more fields into parking lots if there is indication of a rise in number.

Additional Chief Secretary A Venu Prasad on Monday took stock of preparedness of the swearing-in ceremony at Khatkar Kalan.

Congress leader Alka Lamba took to Twitter to expose the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). She shared the Punjab government order that says the Revenue and Rehabilitation Department has been asked to allocate Rs 2.61 crore to the Deputy Commissioner of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar for making arrangements for the mega ceremony.