India, Aug. 25 -- Punjab cabinet ministers Harpal Singh Cheema, Aman Arora and Gurmeet Singh Khudian on Sunday condemned the BJP-led central government's decision to exclude around 55 lakh Punjabis from the free ration scheme under the Public Distribution System (PDS).

The leaders accused the Centre of targeting the state with "deceitful tactics" aimed at depriving the poor of essential food supplies. They vowed that the AAP government would not allow such moves to succeed and pledged to protect the rights of Punjab's vulnerable populations.

Interacting with the media in Patiala on Sunday, Cheema accused the BJP of adopting "cheap and deceitful tactics" to deprive Punjabis of the free ration scheme. He said that neither the people of Pu...