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Move to rechristen UT adviser post as chief secy kicks up row
AAP-Punjab spokesperson Neel Garg said this decision exposes the ‘anti-Punjab’ attitude of the central government.
Incumbent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) decried the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) Tuesday notification to abolish the post of the UT adviser, replacing it with ‘chief secretary’.
AAP-Punjab spokesperson Neel Garg said this decision exposes the ‘anti-Punjab’ attitude of the central government.
“It is an attempt to weaken Punjab’s claim over Chandigarh. The appointment of a chief secretary is meant for a state. Chandigarh is not a state, nor does it have a chief minister. Then why was there a need for the appointment of a chief secretary? The people of Punjab will never tolerate this decision. The central government should reconsider and withdraw the decision,” Garg said during a press conference at the Chandigarh party office on Wednesday.
He added that historically, politically, and socially, Chandigarh belongs to Punjab. “Chandigarh was built by uprooting 27 villages of Punjab. Therefore, the central government should not make any major decisions without consulting the Punjab government,” Garg added.
Reacting to the notification, SAD leader Sukhbir Singh Badal claimed that the decision had been made in collusion with the AAP government in Punjab and its chief minister Bhagwant Mann.
“Mann had formally acknowledged Haryana’s right over Chandigarh by agreeing to set up its legislative assembly here. He had the same anti-Punjab stand on Panjab University and the PGIMER,” Badal said.
Sukhbir added that the transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab is a settled issue and the transfer of Hindi-speaking areas to Haryana in lieu of Chandigarh also stands settled. “The only unfinished agenda of the 1966 re-organisation of Punjab is to restore us our constitutional rights on the river waters as a riparian state, the transfer of Chandigarh and other Punjabi-speaking areas to Punjab left out of the state,” Sukhbir added.
Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly and senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa called the move a “direct attack on Punjab’s legitimate claim over the city”.
“This move is an assault on Punjab’s dignity and a violation of the principles of federalism,” Bajwa said.
Bajwa said the move signals a broader effort to permanently convert Chandigarh into a Union Territory. “Chandigarh’s position was always meant to be temporary until it was transferred to Punjab,” he said.
