The non-release of Rs 9,821 crore in Rural Development Fund (RDF) dues to Punjab has become the latest flashpoint between the BJP-ruled Centre and state government, after Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the Centre had not withheld any dues of the state.With elections to the Punjab Assembly just around the corner, the state government responded with alarming alacrity. It cited not just having dragged the Union Government to the Supreme Court for not releasing the dues, but also reminding Chouhan of the nine-odd meetings that various delegations, including Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, have had with different Union ministers, seeking the release of these funds.‘No bias against state’The issue has become part of AAP’s campaign against the BJP, with the former trying to cement the perception that the BJP is meting out stepmotherly treatment to Punjab by denying its legitimate dues.Chouhan, who was in Chandigarh today, said Punjab had got all its dues as per the rules and would continue to get its dues in the future as well. “Punjab is the pride of the nation. There is no discrimination against Punjab. If anyone in the Punjab Government has an issue, I invite them with open arms to come and meet me. I have been calling the state’s agriculture minister, but they have not accepted my invites for a meeting,” he said when asked about the pending dues of the state.Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, reacting to the Chouhan’s claims, said it was irresponsible and showed how the BJP was betraying farmers. “We have raised the issue at every forum, holding nine meetings with the Union Food Minister, Finance Minister and even the Home Minister, but the Centre ignored Punjab’s dues. Chouhan holds a responsible position and should not have lied on the issue, even ignoring the state’s petition in the apex court. In fact, in one of the many meetings, Union Food Minister Pralhad Joshi had asked the Punjab delegation to withdraw the petition in the SC. We assured him that we would do it once the Centre announced it would clear the dues,” he said.Row over RDF duesTaking a jibe at Chouhan, who was earlier the CM of Madhya Pradesh, Cheema said, “This is not MP, where you can mislead people with your lies. This is Punjab, which for the past several years under BJP rule has seen a clear bias against it,” he said.Punjab has not received the RDF dues for the past 10 crop seasons. The dues were stopped by the Centre, which questioned the handling of these funds by previous governments. After the AAP government came to power, it agreed to the conditions laid down by the Centre on the utilisation of RDF funds and brought in the Punjab Rural Development (Amendment) Act, 2022, to redirect RDF specifically towards rural infrastructure. The funds were stopped by the Centre after it accused the previous government of diverting them.