Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Tuesday accused the AAP government in Punjab of allowing stubble burning to continue, alleging that even Punjab Police personnel and government officials were involved in setting crop residue on fire as Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) rose to 324.The allegations triggered a fresh political confrontation between the BJP government in Delhi and the AAP, with Sirsa accusing former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia of taking political revenge after losing power in the national capital.Addressing a press conference, Sirsa questioned the registration of 271 FIRs against unidentified persons in Punjab despite more than 1,000 incidents of stubble burning being reported in the state. He alleged that the police and administration were failing to act against those responsible and that government officials could themselves be involved in the burning of crop residue.“Punjab Police is setting stubble on fire,” Sirsa alleged, playing a video showing instances of stubble burning.He also questioned the appointment of Reena Gupta, an AAP spokesperson and close associate of Kejriwal, as chairperson of the Punjab Pollution Control Board, arguing that she lacked a technical background.Sirsa further claimed that the Punjab government had spent Rs 20-25 crore on advertisements claiming that stubble burning had been eliminated in the state.Data from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute showed 219 crop-residue burning incidents across seven states on November 2. Punjab accounted for 98 incidents, followed by Rajasthan (67), Madhya Pradesh (48), Uttar Pradesh (four) and Haryana (two).Between September 15 and November 2, a total of 3,535 farm-fire incidents were detected across the seven states, including 1,612 in Punjab.Delhi’s average AQI touched 324 on Monday evening, following which the Commission for Air Quality Management invoked Stage II measures under the Graded Response Action Plan. Weather forecasts have also warned that smoke from farm fires in Punjab and Haryana could reach Delhi-NCR over the next two to three days.Sirsa also highlighted the Delhi government’s efforts to curb pollution, claiming that October had recorded the cleanest air in the national capital in a decade.Defending the restriction on non-BS-VI compliant vehicles entering Delhi, he said around 12,000 vehicles had been checked, of which 1,200 were turned back at the borders.Meanwhile, AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj hit back at the BJP government, accusing it of placing AQI monitoring stations in greener, low-traffic areas, including forests and institutional campuses, to artificially lower pollution readings.He questioned the credibility of the reported AQI figures, arguing that residents could see the pollution despite the official readings.