Opp: Mann reaching new low as CM, trivialising sensitive issues like SYL

Bajwa said the Union government’s assertion in the apex court that Punjab was not cooperating in resolving the SYL canal dispute with Haryana must not be misconstrued as if the Punjab government was not serious on it.

SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal also condemned AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal for “asserting water from SYL canal should be given to Haryana as well as the endorsement given to this anti-Punjab statement by Mann”.

Meanwhile, asserting that he was ready for a meeting with his Haryana counterpart, Mann said, “The Centre imposes a lot of things on the states. Haryana is the younger brother and Punjab is the elder brother. Instead of pitching us against each other, the Centre should find some solution.” Bajwa added that “so far the Centre has never made sincere efforts to resolve the issue amicably”.

In a written statement, Bajwa also said “SYL, river waters, transfer of Chandigarh and Punjabi speaking areas
and due representation in the Bhakra Beas Management Board(BBMB) were long pending issues which must be resolved on top priority. However, Mann’s tweet on July 9 in which he appealed to the Union government to allot separate land to Punjab for Vidhan Sabha and High Court on the pattern of Haryana was not in the interest of the state. In fact, such a stand would dilute Punjab’s claim over Chandigarh. The other day, Union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat was being biased on the transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab as well as on the rightful representation of Punjab in the BBMB.”

He added that Kejriwal and Mann should first understand that Punjab has the first right as per the constitution of India on its river waters flowing through its territory. “Though Haryana has no riparian right over the Punjab waters, it could seek its share of water only after amicable negotiations with the state,” he said.

SAD chief Sukhbir Badal, while expressing shock at the “manner in which Kejriwal was ready to sell out the interests of Punjab for electoral gains in Haryana as well as the abject surrender of Punjab’s interests by Bhagwant Mann solely to save his chair”, said “this sell out of the state’s interests by a party, which was given an overwhelming majority of 92 seats is unparalleled in the history of Punjab”. Asserting that “Bhagwant Mann has taken the prestige of the post of the chief minister of Punjab to a new low”, Sukhbir in a press conference said “Mann was led by the finger to Haryana and showcased as subservien to Kejriwal”.

Forewarning Mann “not to attend any meeting on SYL with the Haryana government”, the SAD president said “negotiations are done when you have something to give away”.

Condemning Mann’s “cowardly actions and the manner in which he had backstabbed Punjabis”, Sukhbir said, “The SAD has steadfastly protected Punjab’s river waters and will continue to do so. We are firm in our belief that the state does not have one drop of water to spare. We will not let one drop of water go out of the State to Haryana”.

He added that during the stint of former CM Parkash Singh Badal, Punjab SYL canal (Rehabilitation and Re-vesting of Property Rights) Bill 2016 was passed to return land acquired for the canal’s construction back to the original owners free of cost.

Sukhbir said that “successive central governments had bled Punjab by denying the state its rights”. He said “in 1955 a non-Riparian State – Rajasthan was given 8 MAF of Ravi-Beas water arbitrarily. Subsequently when Indira Gandhi was at the helm at the centre the then Punjab chief minister – Darbara Singh was brow beaten to sign away the River water rights of Punjab to Haryana”.

He said “the SAD and former CM Parkash Singh Badal had not only challenged Section 78 of the Punjab Reorganization Act in 1979 but also returned land on which the SYL canal was constructed back to the farmers who had started filling it up”.

Mann should have avoided visit to Hisar: Warring

Alleging that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had “deliberately planned” Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s visit to Hisar on Wednesday, Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring questioned Mann’s “political wisdom to visit Haryana just a day after Supreme Court’s orders on settling the Satluj Yamuna Link Canal issue amicably”.

In a written statement on Wednesday evening, Warring said, “While it is the discretion of the Chief Minister to choose where he should go, but the political wisdom demanded that he should have avoided a visit to Hisar today at least and that too in the company of Arvind Kejriwal.”

He said Punjab was embroiled in a “do or die” legal battle with Haryana on the SYL issue, which is a matter of “life and death” for state’s farmers, particularly the Malwa belt, the region Mann himself belongs to, and “here the Chief Minister was enjoying the hospitality of the people of Haryana”.