Punjab’s objection to assembly land in Chandigarh finds echo in Haryana House
Congress MLA Ashok Arora raises issue during last sitting of the assembly’s winter session, describing statements by Punjab leaders on the matter “unfortunate, highly irresponsible and provocative”.
Punjab’s opposition to the Haryana government’s move to set up an additional assembly complex in Chandigarh echoed in the state assembly on Tuesday.
Congress leader Ashok Arora raised the issue of Haryana’s move to set up an additional Vidhan Sabha complex during the last sitting of the assembly’s winter session, describing statements by Punjab leaders on the matter “unfortunate.”
Arora criticised Punjab for not releasing the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) water to Haryana and described the remarks of Punjab’s leaders to the state’s demand for more assembly space in Chandigarh as “highly irresponsible and provocative”.
Speaker urges caution
Speaker Harvinder Kalyan intervened, cautioning against addressing the matter casually in the House. “This is a very serious issue. It cannot be discussed in such a casual manner,” Kalyan said. He proposed holding an all-party meeting to ensure a unanimous stand on the issue and urged chief minister Nayab Singh Saini to make a statement.
In response, the chief minister reiterated the seriousness of the matter and said that the Haryana assembly needs more space to accommodate a likely increase in the number of members after the next delimitation exercise. “We should be united on this issue,” Saini said, while also taking exception to the remarks of Punjab’s leaders on the SYL water dispute and Haryana’s demand for land for the additional assembly complex.
Congress leader Arora expressed support for the government on the issue, assuring him of the opposition’s cooperation.
Genesis of latest tussle
Last week, Saini had urged Punjab’s leaders to “avoid petty politics” over Haryana’s move to construct an additional Vidhan Sabha complex in Chandigarh.
At the core of the latest round of political tussle over Haryana’s move is the November 11 notification of the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change. The central government has notified an area, varying from 1km to 2.035 km from the boundary of the Sukhna wildlife sanctuary in Haryana as Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary Eco-sensitive Zone.
According to this notification, the eco-sensitive zone in general extends up to 1km from the boundary of the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary on the Haryana side. “It is further extended to 2km in the reserved forest on the northern side. On the eastern side; the eco-sensitive zone boundary is mostly 1km, running along the boundary of the reserved forest and the total area of the eco-sensitive zone is 24.6 sqkm,” reads the notification.
The wildlife sanctuary is under the administrative control of the Union Territory of Chandigarh and shares its boundary with Punjab and Haryana and is located in the ecologically sensitive and geologically unstable Shivalik foothills.
Haryana has offered 12 acres in Panchkula, adjoining Chandigarh, to the UT administration in lieu of 10 acres in Chandigarh for the construction of the additional assembly building.
“With this notification, the land in Panchkula which Haryana has offered to Chandigarh has been brought out of the ambit of Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary Eco-sensitive Zone. This notification is a step in the direction of clearing administrative hurdles related to land exchange,” said a senior functionary of Haryana government.
Root of controversy
About two years ago, Union home minister Amit Shah had announced at the Northern Zone Council meeting in Jaipur that land will be given to Haryana for the construction of an additional Vidhan Sabha complex in Chandigarh. Since then, parties in the opposition in Punjab have been opposing the move.
Punjab’s oft-repeated stand has been that Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, is an inalienable part. Hence, Haryana getting land in Chandigarh to construct an additional Vidhan Sabha complex has a huge political significance.
One of the arguments of the Haryana government is that after the proposed delimitation in 2026, Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections will be held in 2029. It is estimated that according to the population of Haryana in the new delimitation, the number of assembly constituencies will be 126 and the number of Lok Sabha constituencies will be 14.
At present, there are 90 MLAs in the Haryana assembly where there is already shortage of space.
Haryana says that the present building doesn’t have space for ministers and Vidhan Sabha committees. It says the 20 rooms that Punjab still occupies should be handed over to Haryana under the 60:40 division of assets.
Haryana has clarified that the construction of the additional Vidhan Sabha doesn’t mean that the state will leave its claim of rightful share in the existing Vidhan Sabha building, which also houses the Punjab assembly.