E-Paper
Vidhan Sabha land row: SAD accuses Punjab CM of giving up state’s rights over Chandigarh
Giving the CM time till July 20 to withdraw and apologise for his statement seeking land to build a separate Vidhan Sabha for Punjab in Chandigarh, SAD warned of statewide protests
The Shiromani Akali Dal on Tuesday slammed chief minister Bhagwant Mann for his recent statement seeking land to build a separate high court and legislative assembly for Punjab in Chandigarh, calling it an act of surrendering the state’s rights over the Union Territory (UT).
Giving the chief minister (CM) time till July 20 to withdraw and apologise for his statement, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) warned of a statewide protest against the government after taking other opposition parties into confidence.
Accusing Mann of making the demand at the behest of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, the party’s core committee also decided to hold a protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on July 19 and outside Kejriwal’s residence on July 20.
The SAD core committee, which held a meeting chaired by party chief Sukhbir Badal here on Tuesday, also termed the Centre’s decision to allot land to Haryana to build a separate Vidhan Sabha in Chandigarh “illegal”. Meanwhile, the AAP has charged both the SAD and Congress of doing “cheap politics over this vital issue” after having failed to safeguard Punjab’s rights over Chandigarh during their nearly five-decade rule.
Union home minister Amit Shah’s recent nod to provide Haryana government a piece of land for setting up an additional state assembly building in Chandigarh has reignited a fresh round of tussle between Haryana and Punjab over the UT, which serves as the joint capital of the two neighbouring states. Mann’s statement had come following this development.
‘Amit Shah has no authority’
The SAD core committee, which is the party’s highest decision making body, claimed that Shah did not have any authority to make this allotment to Haryana without consulting all stakeholders.
The party also demanded that Mann should explain his stand on all issues pertaining to Punjab, including the state losing its permanent membership in the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) that controls the division of river waters, implementation of central pay scales for the UT employees and attempt to convert Panjab University into a central varsity, giving him time till July 20.
A three-member committee, comprising senior Akali leaders Balwinder Singh Bhundur, Prem Singh Chandumajra and Sikander Singh Maluka, was constituted to approach other opposition parties to launch a campaign if Mann fails to meet the demands.
The core committee also demanded that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should take over the probe into Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder, and raised objection to the ban on his posthumously released song “SYL” linked to the Sutlej Yamuna Link canal issue besides singer Kanwal Grewal’s song “Rihai” that demanded release of Sikh prisoners.
The party also questioned the appointment Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha as the chairman of a state government’s advisory committee, calling it “unconstitutional”.
AAP hits back at SAD, Congress
Meanwhile, AAP state chief spokesperson Malwinder Singh Kang claimed that the SAD and Congress had failed to advocate for the rights of Punjab even though the two parties ruled for nearly five decades. “Now for the past few days, the opposition is raking up the issue of Chandigarh just to score brownie points before the public by issuing scurrilous statements against the AAP,” he alleged while addressing a press conference here.
Kang said that Chandigarh belongs to Punjab, and the AAP government will not let the state’s authority over the capital city get diluted at any cost. Questioning the opposition for levelling “baseless allegations” against the AAP and Mann, Kang said the authority of Punjab over Chandigarh was weakened by the previous governments. “Why did the Badal and Congress governments shift the government offices of Punjab from Chandigarh to Mohali? Why New Chandigarh was established during the Badal government?” he said.
