Moving ahead with the exchange of land for an additional Haryana assembly building in Chandigarh, officials of the UT administration and Haryana government demarcated 12 acres in Saketri.
The Haryana government will be allotting the 12 acres to UT in exchange for 10 acres in Chandigarh near the IT Park road where it will construct an additional assembly premises.
A senior UT officer said the demarcation was done in the presence of Haryana, UT and Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) officers. A total of 18 pillars have been erected to mark the land.
He further said the land provided to Chandigarh will be notified as a part of the UT, leading to change in the city’s map.
Chandigarh deputy commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh said, “We are hopeful of holding a meeting with the Haryana officers by July end, as they have to submit a non-encumbrance certificate and demarcation report of the 12 acres.”
Meanwhile, Haryana Vidhan Sabha speaker Gian Chand Gupta said, “We are in contact with the UT administration and hopefully, the land for the assembly will be allotted within a month. We will begin construction soon after.”
On July 9, 2022, Union home minister Amit Shah had announced allocation of land for the Haryana assembly in Chandigarh at the 30th meeting of the Northern Zonal Council in Jaipur. He was responding to Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s demand for the state’s rights in the existing Vidhan Sabha in Chandigarh that it shares with Punjab, given the increase that will happen in the number of assembly seats after the 2026 delimitation exercise.
{{/usCountry}}On July 9, 2022, Union home minister Amit Shah had announced allocation of land for the Haryana assembly in Chandigarh at the 30th meeting of the Northern Zonal Council in Jaipur. He was responding to Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s demand for the state’s rights in the existing Vidhan Sabha in Chandigarh that it shares with Punjab, given the increase that will happen in the number of assembly seats after the 2026 delimitation exercise.
{{/usCountry}}Following delimitation, Haryana, like many states that have seen an increase in population, will see the number of assembly constituencies rise from the current 90 to 126, and the number of Lok Sabha constituencies from 10 to 14.
The decision to allot Chandigarh land to Haryana, which was carved out of Punjab in 1966, for the additional assembly complex carries huge political symbolism.
Punjab has been opposing Haryana’s demand for the additional land as Chandigarh is the joint capital of the two states. Any concession to Haryana in Chandigarh is perceived in Punjab as the border state losing its grip over the UT.