Panchkula BJP candidate rakes up SYL issue as Kejriwal gets bail

Leaving jail amid Haryana Assembly elections, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal will have to face tough questions on the Satluj Yamuna Link Canal and the dispute between Punjab and Haryana about sharing water. Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Panchkula candidate and sitting MLA Gian Chand Gupta today raised the question of whether or not Kejriwal would ask the AAP-led Punjab Government to provide water to Haryana, its sister state.

The SYL issue has been a matter of major contention among the two states, with the AAP-led Punjab Government keeping mum on the issue and BJP-led Haryana seeking its ‘share’. While according to Haryana the surplus and un-channelled water of Ravi, Sutlej and Beas was going to Pakistan due to the non-completion of the SYL Canal, Punjab, which is witnessing its ground-water levels recede year after year, has stated that it does not have even a drop to spare.

Gupta on Friday said the AAP must clarify its stand on the issue. He said, “Now that Kejriwal is coming out of jail after long, he should explain his stand on the SYL issue. Will he ask the Punjab Government to provide water to Haryana?” Gupta questioned. He added that the AAP was faced with important questions after it ‘stands rejected’ by the Congress party in their talks for a seat-sharing pact. “Both the parties will register losses due to this,” he added.

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini during his visit to Golden Temple in Amritsar, in June, said Punjab was an elder brother and asked it to share its water.

Gupta said the AAP had announced it would provide Rs 1,000 to women, along with free electricity in Punjab. “But people in Punjab are getting electricity for merely five-six hours. The question is what will Kejriwal promise to the people of Haryana,” Gupta said.

He said the BJP workers were holding ‘jan-sampark’ initiatives in villages. “We have deputed 25 workers on all 320 booths in the constituency. We will also hold a big conference with industrialists. We are getting a positive response from people,” he said.

Attacking Congress party candidate Chander Mohan, he said he was seeking votes to work for Panchkula, but should explain the initiatives he had taken during his 18-year-long tenure as an MLA.