SAD committee meeting: Mann doing Kejriwal’s bidding, can sacrifice Punjab’s interests to boost AAP in Haryana
The Shiromani Akali Dal Tuesday issued an ultimatum to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to withdraw his statement seeking land for a separate Vidhan Sabha, saying it amounted to surrendering Punjab’s rights on Chandigarh. The party asked Mann to apologise for the same failing which it would approach all political parties in the state to launch a joint agitation to secure the rights of Punjab.
Terming the Centre’s decision to allot land in Chandigarh to Haryana for a separate Vidhan Sabha as “illegal”, the SAD core committee noted that Union Minister Amit Shah did not have any authority to make this allotment without consulting all stakeholders.
Shah, during the northern zonal council meeting in Jaipur, had announced that Centre will give land in Chandigarh to Haryana for constructing its own Vidhan Sabha. Currently, Punjab and Haryana share space in one Vidhan Sabha complex.
Soon after, Mann, in a tweet, demanded a similar allotment for Punjab. On Monday, he defended his tweet saying “already their (Haryana’s) Assembly is in Chandigarh; if more land is being given to them, then why should we not be considered”.
Hitting back at Mann, the Akali Dal committee said, “The manner in which the CM tried to allegedly brazen it out when asked why he had taken an anti-Punjab stance indicated that he was acting on the instructions of AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal who was ready to sacrifice the interests of Punjab to strengthen the party in Haryana”.
It demanded the chief minister to explain his stand on all issues of Punjab by July 20, including the Bhakra-Beas Management Board (BBMB), implementation of central pay scale for Chandigarh employees and attempt to convert Panjab University into a central university.
If this was not done, a three-member committee comprising SAD leaders Balwinder Singh Bhundur, Prem Singh Chandumajra and Sikander Singh Maluka, who also attended the core committee meeting, would approach all political parties to launch an aggressive campaign on this issue, it said.
The core committee also decided to hold a protest at the residence of the Delhi chief minister on July 20.
“The ‘dharna’ will be held to protest Kejriwal’s refusal to sign Davinder Pal Singh Bhullar’s release orders for eight months,” the party said.
The core committee also expressed grave concern at the manner in which freedom of speech and expression “are being throttled by banning songs which solely express the sentiments of people”.
“The committee noted that there was nothing objectionable in either the SYL song sung by the late Sidhu Moosewala or the ‘Rihaee’ song sung by Kanwar Grewal, which had been banned by the Centre,” the statement said.
“It decided that as an act of solidarity with both singers and the ideas they espoused, Youth Akali Dal (YAD) workers will take out tractor marches to all district headquarters blaring both songs as a sign of protest against this censorship, said the SAD release.
The core committee also condemned an AAP minister’s call for forming a tribunal to adjudicate on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal issue in a meeting of the Northern Zonal Council and termed the move as “a conspiracy to give away Punjab’s river waters to Haryana through hook or by crook.”
The meeting also asserted the appointment of Raghav Chadha as chairman of the temporary advisory committee as “unconstitutional”.
“Anyone who has not taken oath of the constitution cannot be shown official files”, the committee noted even as it called the move “a betrayal of the fatwa (verdict) given by Punjabis,” the core committee meeting noted, asserting that that “the chief minister could not sub-let his powers to Raghav Chadha”.
