Haryana Assembly budget session: Why SYL missing from budget document, Congress asks CM Saini

As the House began a debate on the 2026-27 budget estimates presented on March 2 by CM Nayab Singh Saini, who also holds the finance portfolio, the long-standing SYL issue dominated proceedings

The Congress mounted a sharp attack on the Nayab Singh Saini-led BJP government in the Haryana Assembly on Thursday, questioning why the Sutlej–Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue found no mention in the budget document and alleging that scams and financial mismanagement have become the hallmark of the ruling dispensation.

The former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda also targeted the government over what he termed as inaction on the matter. (HT Photo for representation)

As the House began a debate on the 2026-27 budget estimates presented on March 2 by CM Nayab Singh Saini, who also holds the finance portfolio, the long-standing SYL issue dominated proceedings. Opening the discussion, Congress veteran Raghuvir Singh Kadian urged legislators to rise above party lines and unite on the SYL canal issue. He proposed that the House should pass a resolution and jointly meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek an early resolution of the decades-old dispute.

The SYL canal project was envisioned to share water between Punjab and Haryana through a 214-km canal (122 km in Punjab and 92 km in Haryana). While Haryana had completed its portion long back, Punjab has been resisting construction, citing dwindling groundwater levels and reduced river flow. While the Supreme Court has also ruled in Haryana’s favour, the state has not received its rightful share of water from Punjab.

“Haryana is facing acute water scarcity and many canals are running dry. Let us rise above political lines and unite to fight for SYL,” Kadian said, adding that it was perhaps for the first time in the state’s history that the SYL canal issue was not mentioned in the budget speech.

The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda also targeted the government over what he termed as inaction on the matter, questioning why the state had not filed a contempt petition in the Supreme Court despite earlier assurances. Hooda recalled that former CM Manohar Lal Khattar had assured the House that a contempt plea would be filed. “Why is the government sleeping over the SYL issue?” Hooda asked.

Cabinet minister Rao Narbir Singh, however, said the SYL issue had been dominating political discourse for decades without any tangible progress on the ground. “Ever since I came to the assembly, I have been hearing about SYL. Since 1984, this issue has been debated repeatedly...but our government has ensured that water reaches the tail end of every canal in the state,” he said.

In a multi-pronged attack on the government, Kadian, who spoke for nearly 53 minutes, alleged that the state has witnessed several scams and financial irregularities in recent years. Listing alleged irregularities, he referred to a “paddy scam”, tax leakages, bank fraud and losses in excise revenue. He also raised concerns over the state’s finances, claiming that the government was raising loans of over ₹6,000 crore every month and alleged that the budget presented by CM Saini was “full of fudged figures”. Kadian also alleged that Haryana was slipping into a “debt trap”, claiming the state was under growing financial stress.

BJP MLAs Ram Kumar Kashyap, Yoginder Rana, Umed Singh and Congress MLA Nirmal Singh also participated in the debate on budget estimates for which Assembly speaker Harvinder Kalyan has fixed 450 minutes. The ruling BJP has been allotted 240 minutes, while the Congress legislators have been given 185 minutes, INLD 10 minutes and the independents 15 minutes to speak on budget estimates.