The AAP government in Punjab backed Mann for his stand on SYL even as the Opposition trained barbs at him. Calling him a “son of the soil who stood firmly to protect Punjab waters”, Cabinet minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said that the interests of the state are completely protected under Mann’s leadership. Dhaliwal added that Mann’s firm stand with facts had left the opposition speechless. “The Opposition parties that are advising our government now had clandestinely laid the foundation of this canal for their vested political interests,” he said.
AAP Punjab spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang slammed the Opposition and termed the Congress as “real culprits’ for the SYL controversy. “The Indira Gandhi-led central government was the first to rob Punjab’s waters. In 2004, Haryana, Punjab and even the Centre had Congress governments, why then did it fail to find a solution to the SYL problem?,” he asked.
Accusing former CM Parkash Singh Badal of taking forward the agenda of Congress, Kang said that the Badal government had issued a notification to acquire land for SYL in 1978. “It also wrote to the then Devi Lal government in Haryana to release an installment of Rs 3 crore for SYL,” he said.
Taking a dig at former CM Captain Amarinder Singh, Kang said that Capt had taken ‘silver spade’ to dig the SYL canal in 1982. Kang also lashed out at Punjab BJP leaders and asked them if Haryana is getting water from Yamuna then why is Punjab not getting it? “And why was the representation of Punjab in BBMB removed by the Centre? Punjab BJP leaders should answer this and seek clarification from the PM,” he added.
