SAD asks Pb CM to tell Pbis what stand he will take on SYL canal in his meeting with the Haryana CM tomorrow.

(Dr Daljit Cheema says CM under pressure from Kejriwal to compromise Punjab’s interests on SYL)

Chandigarh, October 13 – The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today asked chief minister Bhagwant Mann to tell Punjabis what stand he would take on the Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal in his meeting with his Haryana counterpart tomorrow, saying this was of utmost importance as there were clear cut indications that he would betray Punjab’s interests at the instance of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Convener Arvind Kejriwal.

In a statement here, former minister Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said the very fact that the chief minister had not explained his stand to Punjabis nor held an All Party meeting to firm up one stand on this issue indicated that he was under pressure from Arvind Kejriwal to arrive at a compromise with the Haryana government to help AAP gain politically in Haryana.

Asserting that Punjabis would not tolerate any such compromise, Dr Daljit Cheema asked the chief minister to clearly state that Punjab did not have a single drop of water to spare nor any land to construct the SYL canal before attending the meeting on this issue with Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar. He said the chief minister should also make it clear that Punjab had exclusive rights to its River waters being a Riparian State and that Haryana as a non-riparian State did not have any locus standi on this issue.

The SAD leader also asked the chief minister to state that if Punjab had suffered losses in court on this issue it was because former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had forced then chief minister Darbara Singh to withdraw the State’s petition challenging Section 78 and 80 of the Punjab Reorganization Act. He said if this had not been done Punjab would not have suffered the subsequent judicial reverses. “Punjab is a victim of historical injustices. Judicial orders should not be used to divest it of its River waters”.

Dr Cheema said it was also incumbent on the chief minister to take a clear public stand on the SYL issue before entering into talks with Haryana because the latter had shown unimaginably weakness in standing up to his boss Kejriwal who was bent upon giving away Punjab’s waters to Haryana. “Mr Bhagwant Mann has publically endorsed the stance of the AAP Convener that water from Punjab should be released to Haryana. AAP has already made announcements to this effect in Haryana and is in the process of taking credit for this dubious feat”.

The SAD leader also asked Mr Bhagwant Mann to use the opportunity tomorrow to convey Punjab’s objection to Haryana vis a vis its proposal to construct a new Vidhan Sabha building in Chandigarh for which it has asked the centre to allot land to it. “Mr Mann should follow up this objection by approaching the Chandigarh Administrator as well as the home ministry to register his strong protest on this issue”, Dr Cheema added.