Harbhajan Singh ETO slams Harsimrat Badal, Majithia over road quality claims, says viral video ‘fake’
Minister says he invited opposition leaders to inspect road but they failed to turn up; samples sent for laboratory testing
Babushahi Bureau
Maisarkhana (Bathinda), August 23, 2026: Punjab Public Works Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO on Sunday hit out at Shiromani Akali Dal leaders Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Bikram Singh Majithia for allegedly failing to turn up after being challenged to inspect the quality of a newly constructed road in Bathinda district.
The minister inspected the Maisarkhana-Tittarsar Sahib road and the newly constructed Kotbhara-Ramgarh Bhundar road following the circulation of a social media video claiming that the newly constructed road could be broken with bare hands.
Harbhajan Singh ETO said he had invited Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Bikram Singh Majithia to visit the spot and demonstrate their allegations by attempting to uproot the road themselves. He said that while he reached the site at the scheduled time, neither leader was present.
“If they were so confident about their claims, they should have come and demonstrated them at the spot,” the minister said.
Road Material Found Satisfactory
During his inspection, ETO said the quality of the Maisarkhana-Tittarsar Sahib road work was satisfactory and that the material being used was as per prescribed standards.
He also inspected the newly constructed Kotbhara-Ramgarh Bhundar road, where officials from the Quality Control Centre, Patiala, collected a sample of the road material for laboratory testing.
The minister said the laboratory examination would provide a scientific assessment of the road quality and assured that action would be taken if any deficiency was detected.
“The road has been constructed according to the prescribed standards. If any deficiency is found in the road work, strict action will be taken against the concerned contractor as per the rules,” he said.
ETO Calls Viral Road Video ‘Fake’
Taking aim at the opposition, ETO described the video showing the road allegedly being broken by hand as “completely fake” and accused opposition parties of spreading misleading propaganda.
He said the Bhagwant Mann government would not compromise on the quality of development works and that public funds were being spent with transparency and accountability.
“Every single penny of people’s tax money is being utilised properly,” he said.
The minister added that the state government was undertaking construction and renovation work on around 45,000 kilometres of roads across Punjab and had also initiated work to upgrade link roads.
“Our priority is to ensure that every road is constructed with quality and that every rupee of public money is accounted for,” ETO said.
MLA Maur Sukhvir Singh Maisarkhana, Improvement Trust Chairman Jatinder Singh Bhalla and Punjab Medium Industries Development Board Chairman Neel Garg were present during the inspection.
Sub-Divisional Magistrate Maur Gurjinder Singh, Chief Engineer Anil Gupta, Superintending Engineer Anil Sharma, Executive Engineer Onkar Singh and other Public Works Department officials also accompanied the minister.
Photo Caption: Punjab Public Works Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO inspecting road construction work in Bathinda district.