Chandigarh, July 25 -- Punjab cabinet minister Aman Arora has defended the state government's newly introduced land pooling policy, accusing opposition parties of hypocrisy for political gains.

Speaking at a press conference at Punjab Bhawan, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) state president said the framework for the current land pooling model was originally introduced by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-BJP government, yet both SAD-BJP and the Congress are now opposing the policy.

"The same parties had approved master plans for cities like Mohali, Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Hoshiarpur, which paved the way for private developers to build colonies. These developments lacked proper civic infrastructure, and over 20,000 acres were encroached upon with...