Leader of Opposition in Haryana assembly Abhay Chautala on Wednesday asked chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar to call an all-party meeting on the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue in the wake of recent statement of former Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh that not even a drop of water would be given to Haryana from the SYL canal.
Seeking all the political parties to make their stand clear on the SYL canal issue, Chautala said that the matter had assumed gravity with Amarinder making such a statement in Parliament. Stating that the SYL canal was lifeline of Haryana, Chautala said all the political parties of the state must come on one platform to express their respective viewpoints on the issue.
"Through such a meeting, the people of the state would also come to know the clear stand of all the parties on the issue. The parties which claim to be national political parties have been only fooling the people with their double-speak'', he said in a statement and added that Amarinder's remark was not only disrespectful towards the people of Haryana but also the judgment of the Supreme Court.
Chautala said that it was the previous INLD government which had extensively pursued Haryana's claim on the SYL waters in the apex court, which resulted into a favourable order for the state. It was up to the Central government to ensure the completion of the SYL canal, he added.
{{/usCountry}}Chautala said that it was the previous INLD government which had extensively pursued Haryana's claim on the SYL waters in the apex court, which resulted into a favourable order for the state. It was up to the Central government to ensure the completion of the SYL canal, he added.
{{/usCountry}}He also bemoaned the silence of the Congress in Haryana which, he claimed, exposed the hollow talk of the Congress only to fool people of Haryana while it had no concern for their welfare.
INLD PROTEST TOMORROW
INLD state president Ashok Arora said that the party would hold protests to raise the demands of farmers at all the 21 district headquarters on Friday.
Arora said that the INLD workers would also submit memorandums, addressed to chief minister ML Khattar, to various deputy commissioners to highlight farmers' plight after the massive damage to their crops because of the recent rains and hailstorm in the state. He demanded `25,000 per acre, `300 per quintal bonus on wheat and the implementation of Swaminathan commission recommendations for the farmers.