Haryana’s Anil Vij flays AAP’s Chandigarh move: ‘A party born out of deception’

Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij said on Saturday that the government in Punjab was in its “shishukaal” (babyhood) and that its “doodh ke daant” (milk teeth) had not appeared yet. “The Aam Aadmi Party is a deceitful party that was born out of deception. For Anna Hazare’s movement, forming a party was not on the agenda. But some mischievous elements played with the sentiments of people and formed a political party,” he said.

“The Punjab government is not aware of the core issues. The issue of Chandigarh is not isolated. There are also the issues like the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal, Hindi-speaking areas etc. Whenever there is a decision, it will be a single decision. There cannot be separate decisions on these issues,” the BJP leader added.

While Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar described the Punjab resolution as “illogical”, politicians across the party lines demanded a special Assembly session to discuss the issues of Chandigarh and the canal—the two major points of contention between the states.

“Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann should apologise to the people of Haryana for the extremely condemnable move that they have made. The chief minister should resign for doing such a reprehensible and undemocratic thing,” Khattar said.

He also said the AAP supremo should first clarify whether or not he wanted the people of Haryana and Delhi to get water from the canal. “If SYL water comes to Haryana, definitely Delhi will also get its share,” he told reporters.

Khattar added that unless the Punjab government implemented the Supreme Court verdict on the canal, talks would not progress.

Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda demanded an all-party delegation meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to urge him to get the court decision implemented. He has also called a meeting of the Congress MLAs on Monday.

“The Punjab government is unnecessarily disrupting the communal harmony between the two states. Chandigarh was, is and shall always remain Haryana’s capital. Even the Shah commission had ruled that Haryana has the first right on Chandigarh. If Punjab is serious about resolving the issues between the two states, it should first implement the Supreme Court’s verdict in the matter of the SYL canal,” the former chief minister said.

“We demand that an all-party delegation should meet the prime minister and urge him to get the Supreme Court’s decision on the SYL canal implemented. The Haryana government should also immediately call an all-party meeting and jointly condemn the resolution passed in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha,” the Congress veteran said.
Indian National Lok Dal MLA Abhay Chautala wrote to Khattar demanding a special Assembly session. “We have sought an appointment with the governor. The INLD shall be submitting a memorandum to him to get the Supreme Court’s verdict on the SYL issue implemented at the earliest. The INLD will also urge him to convene a special session of the Vidhan Sabha in which a resolution on Chandigarh and the SYL canal should be passed,” he said.

The Punjab Assembly passed a resolution on Friday seeking immediate transfer of Chandigarh to the state. Chief Minister Mann accused the Centre of trying to upset the balance in the administration of the Union Territory and other common assets.