AAP govt has hidden motives behind raising Chandigarh issue: Khattar

A day ahead of the special Haryana assembly session, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab has hidden agenda behind raising the controversial issue of Chandigarh

A day ahead of the special Haryana assembly session, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab has hidden agenda behind raising the controversial issue of Chandigarh.

Haryana chief minsiter Manohar Lal Khattar during his visit to Panipat on Monday. (HT Photo)

“They should have raised the issue of SYL to resolve the old dispute by giving Haryana its share,” he said.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was demanding more water from Haryana for Delhi but is now keeping mum over Haryana’s share in SYL and around 400 Hindi-speaking villages of Punjab and all these issues need to be resolved by holding talks.

“I believe AAP has hidden motives behind this issue but people of Punjab will not allow them to succeed,” he added.

He said Haryana and all political parties in state are united over this issue and Chandigarh will remain the capital of Haryana as well.

‘Vacancies of yoga teachers, dieticians to be filled soon’

Khattar said vacant posts of yoga instructors and dieticians at wellness centres will be filled soon.

The chief minister was interacting with the media after a surprise inspection at wellness centres in Kharkali and Sataundi villages, a yogshala at Rasin village and a Government Model Sanskriti School in Gharaunda when he was on his way to Panipat from Karnal.

During the visit, Khattar interacted with residents of these villages and told them that the government has taken this initiative to provide better health facilities to people residing in rural areas. He said requirement of yoga teachers and dieticians will soon be completed so that they can stay healthy by attending yoga and meditation classes in these centres.

Khattar said 650 yogshalas have been set up in Haryana and the government is soon going to recruit around 1,000 yoga instructors.

Later, during the inspection at Government Model Sanskriti School (GMSS), Gharaunda, the chief minister said 138 GMSSs set up in state are competing with private schools and there is competition among students to get enrolled in these schools.

He said the government has increased budget of the education sector this year. There is a shortage of staff in schools but the government is making efforts in this direction. About 2.5 lakh children have been enrolled in the GMSSs being run across state and the number is increasing continuously, he added.

Later, Khattar visited Panipat to review arrangements of the venue for a programme to be organised on the closing ceremony of the 400th Prakash Utsav of Guru Tegh Bahadur on April 24 at Sector 13/17 of Panipat and gave necessary guidelines.

Tanwar struggling to grab power

Reacting to former Haryana Congress president and TMC leader Ashok Tanwar joining the Aam Aadmi Party, the chief minister said, “Such ambitious people keep wandering from one party to another. Not just Tanwar, there are many others who do not have experience of work and their only motive is to grab power.”

Haryana a tenant in Chandigarh, should get its own capital: Karan Dalal

Amid the ongoing cries of claim between Punjab and Haryana over Chandigarh, former Haryana minister Karan Singh Dalal termed it a ‘ghisa pita’ (stale) issue which is being raked up only to mislead the public.

Dalal, a former Congress MLA from Palwal, said Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government brought a resolution in the state assembly staking claim over Chandigarh just to deceive the public. “And now Haryana is reciprocating by convening a special session of the assembly to pass a similar resolution,” he said, adding that he was airing his views in a personal capacity.

Dalal said Haryana should think about developing a new capital for the sake of people’s convenience. “I request all Haryana MLAs to think over having the state’s own independent capital. For the last 55 years, Haryana has occupied Chandigarh as a tenant and now it’s time to think about an independent capital. Haryanvis do not relate to the culture and language of Chandigarh and are treated as second-rate citizens there,” he said.