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Mann comes under Opposition fire over knowledge-sharing agreement with Delhi
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann and his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal have signed an agreement to enable the “two state governments to send and receive officials, ministers and other personnel to learn and share their knowledge, experience and skills for public welfare.
The Opposition in Punjab panned chief minister (CM) Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday for signing a knowledge-sharing agreement (KSA) with his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, accusing him of “abrogation of responsibility” and “institutionalising interference”.
An agreement was signed between Kejriwal and Mann in Delhi to enable the “two governments to send and receive officials, ministers and other personnel to learn and share their knowledge, experience and skills for public welfare”.
Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Partap Singh Bajwa and Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring immediately slammed the pact between the two Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief ministers, claiming that Kejriwal would now run Punjab.
Bajwa termed the agreement as “undemocratic” and “complete abrogation of responsibility” on part of the Punjab government. “The proposed agreement @PunjabGovtIndia and Delhi govt is akin to inviting the British to safeguard the Maharajah as requested by the Lahore Durbar in 1846,” he tweeted, threatening to take the fight against it to the highest court. The CLP leader alleged that AAP has chosen self-interest and power over the people they proclaimed to represent. “If this proposed agreement comes to fruition, an unelected ‘Joint Working Group’ will be managing the welfare of the people,” he posted in another tweet.
Warring asked the Punjab CM to admit Kejriwal would now run Punjab from Delhi. “Mann Sahib, education and health are on the concurrent list yet administrative decision in implementation of schemes is done by state government whose employees are accountable to state assembly…what administrative invention is this to bypass constitutional conventions,” he posted on Twitter.
Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira termed the agreement a ploy to summon the Punjab bureaucracy to Delhi and give them orders as Kejriwal had to face flak when he summoned the chief minister and power secretary recently. “He is trying to legitimise an illegality! Another Badlav (change),” he tweeted.
Khaira said that compromising the Punjab government departments with Delhi government and making agreements amounted to abject and complete surrender of authority by Mann before Kejriwal. “How will Punjab defend its waters, language etc if we submit ourselves to another state,” he asked.
Former MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu said that with this agreement, Mann has accepted that Punjab will be a subservient state to Delhi and work under its diktat.
Move aimed at accepting Kejriwal as de jure head of Punjab
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state general secretary Subhash Sharma stated, “Earlier Kejriwal used to rule Punjab through backdoor; now, he will be able to do so openly without any inhibitions.
Responding to Mann’s defence of the agreement, claiming that Punjabi children will get good education and elders will get good healthcare, Sharma remarked, “It sounds like a colonial puppet trying to convince his subjects that colonialism is in their interest.”
“Not only is the agreement aimed at accepting Kejriwal as the de jure head of the state administration, it also confirms and reaffirms the public belief that CM Mann has accepted his incompetence and handed over all authority to Kejriwal and decided to act as his puppet,” the BJP leader said, adding, while the incompetence of CM and his ministers was an accepted fact, but why question the competence of officers working in Punjab.
Former minister Manoranjan Kalia said the knowledge-sharing agreement is a basically power-sharing agreement and an instrument to allow Kejriwal to rule Punjab by proxy.
“Before announcing 300 units of free power in Punjab, top bureaucrats were called to Delhi by Arvind Kejriwal, which had a sharp repercussion in Punjab. The said knowledge-sharing agreement has been carved out to cover up,” he said.
