With folded hands, wearing a neatly tied yellow turban and a brown jacket over his white kurta, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann stares out from ration kits being distributed to nearly 40 lakh beneficiary families across the state—a move that has triggered a fresh political storm over the use of a CM’s image on a government welfare scheme.

The controversy erupted soon after photographs of the newly launched ‘Meri Rasoi Yojana’ kits were distributed. Opposition leaders, including Bikram Singh Majithia and Sukhpal Singh Khaira, took to X to question the branding exercise, accusing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of converting a public welfare programme into political publicity ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.

Majithia wrote on X, “Extreme case of grandiose narcissism.” Khaira also wrote, “Will Bhagwant Mann answer this?” Both posted a video of the kit carrying pictures of Mann on each packet.

Under the ‘Meri Rasoi Yojana’ scheme, the Punjab government has announced quarterly free ration kits for around 40 lakh families covered under the National Food Security Act. Besides wheat already being supplied under the Atta-Dal scheme, beneficiaries will now receive chana dal, mustard oil, sugar, salt and turmeric powder.

The scheme was announced earlier this year and formally rolled out on May 15 for the April-June quarter, sources said. Distribution to all beneficiary families is expected to take nearly one and a half months.

Each quarterly kit includes 2 kg chana dal, 2 kg sugar, 1 litre mustard oil, 1 kg iodised salt and 200 gm turmeric powder. The state government has projected the scheme as a major nutrition-support initiative for economically weaker families, especially at a time when kitchen expenses have risen sharply. The scheme is expected to cost the exchequer around Rs 900 crore annually.

While the AAP government has defended the scheme as a welfare measure aimed at easing the burden on poor households, Opposition parties argue that CM Mann’s image on ration bags violates the spirit of public-funded welfare delivery.

The controversy has also revived memories of an earlier standoff involving former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal. More than a decade ago, Punjab had faced the prospect of losing central funding after Badal’s photographs appeared on ‘108’ ambulances operating under the National Health Mission. The Centre had then objected to the use of the chief minister’s pictures on centrally funded ambulances and warned Punjab to either remove the photographs or forgo grants worth over Rs 12 crore.

The controversy over Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s photographs on ration kits has also brought to the fore allegations that the AAP government has increasingly used government schemes and infrastructure for political branding.

Over the past two years, Opposition parties have repeatedly targeted the Mann government over the use of AAP’s signature yellow-and-blue colour scheme on public infrastructure. Earlier this year, a row erupted after the Punjab government ordered 852 government schools to be painted in shades critics said resembled AAP colours.

Similar objections were raised when government hospitals and nearly 650 new PRTC buses were painted in yellow and blue. Opposition leaders, including Majithia and Khaira, accused the government of using public funds for political messaging, while the government denied any partisan motive.

The Tirath Yatra scheme buses also prominently carried photographs of Mann and AAP branding during the launch of the pilgrimage initiative, drawing criticism from Opposition parties, which alleged that welfare schemes were increasingly being packaged around personalities rather than institutions.

Successive governments in Punjab, including the previous SAD-BJP regimes, have faced criticism over photographs of political leaders appearing on bicycles, buses, ambulances and welfare material.