The Friday meeting between Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar on the contentious issue of Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal has sparked a war of words between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and the opposition parties with both sides accusing each of mishandling the matter.
Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa said that Chief Minister Mann’s stance over Punjab’s river waters was not only weak but also lacked clarity and conviction.
“He failed to drive home the point strongly that Haryana has no right over Punjab’s river waters and hence cannot push hard for the construction of the SYL,” said Bajwa, a Congress MLA.
“Whether we have sufficient water available in our rivers is besides the real issue. First establish the ownership rights of Punjab over its waters,” Bajwa said.
Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal said that Mann has fallen into the trap laid by Haryana by initiating talks to check the availability of water. He said that this was done despite the fact that Haryana did not have any locus standi in the case being a non-Riparian State.
Badal also took umbrage to the Punjab Advocate General’s claim in the Chief Minister’s presence that “if we have water, we will consider the construction of the SYL.” He said that the Punjab government should immediately disassociate itself from this stand and censure the AG for making an anti-Punjab statement.
The SAD chief said that when Mann was not in power, he used to talk big saying that there was no question of discussing Punjab’s river waters issue with Haryana. “So, he can’t be innocent and ignorant of the issue. He has simply surrendered his will to Arvind Kejriwal (AAP chief) and that is why he could not refuse to meet Khattar,” said Badal.
The AAP, however, said that the previous governments in Punjab are responsible for deliberately lingering the SYL issue for decades due to their vested political interests.
AAP Punjab’s chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang termed the Congress party as ‘real culprits’ for the SYL controversy and said that the then Indira Gandhi-led Central government was the first to rob Punjab’s waters.
Accusing SAD leader and former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal of taking forward the dastardly agenda of the Congress, Kang said that the Badal government had issued a notification to acquire land for SYL in 1978. Not only this, he also wrote a letter to the then Devi Lal government of Haryana to release an instalment of Rs 3 crore for the SYL canal.
Taking a dig at Captain Amarinder Singh, Kang said that the former CM, who talked about the rights of Punjab, had taken a ‘silver spade’ to dig the SYL canal in 1982.
Kang also lashed out at the Punjab BJP leaders and asked them if Haryana is getting water from the Yamuna, then why is Punjab not getting it.
“And why was the representation of Punjab in the BBMB removed by the Central government? Punjab BJP leaders should answer this and seek clarification from Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he added.