Firmly opposes Haryana’s land demand for additional Assembly building in Chandigarh: SAD

Chandigarh, November 24

Shiromani Akali Dal here on Thursday said it will firmly oppose any move by the Centre to transfer or swap land to enable Haryana to construct an additional legislative assembly building in Chandigarh.

Senior Akali leader Prem Singh Chandumajra also accused the AAP of hobnobbing with the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in Haryana to “dilute and weaken Punjab’s legitimate and constitutionally acknowledged claim” on its capital, Chandigarh.

Haryana has sought a 10-acre plot in Chandigarh for constructing the additional building of its Vidhan Sabha. It has identified land adjacent to the traffic light at Madhya Marg near the railway station road junction and offered a 10-acre site in Panchkula in exchange.

“Not an inch of land from Chandigarh will be allowed to be transferred to or swapped with Haryana as the entire capital (Chandigarh) belongs inalienably to Punjab. This has been acknowledged by both houses of the Parliament as well as by successive governments at the Centre..,” Chandumajra said here this evening.

He was talking to reporters after a meeting of the senior Akali leaders, called to decide the party’s strategy on the issue. The meeting was presided over by the party president Sukhbir Singh Badal. According to a party statement, a major decision was taken that a high-level delegation of the SAD led by Sukhbir Singh Badal will meet the Punjab Governor, who is also UT Chandigarh’s Administrator, to appeal to him to reject the demand put forward by Haryana government.

The meeting also set up a two-member committee comprising SAD leaders MaheshInder Singh Grewal and Dr Daljit Singh Cheema to consult eminent lawyers for taking legal action on this issue.

Chandumajra appealed to “all right-thinking people” and political parties committed to safeguarding the interests of Punjab to “come together on a single platform for a united fight counter and defeat the center’s onslaught against the state.” He said that the SAD will leave no stone unturned, including resorting to a peaceful mass movement and legal alternatives, to safeguard Punjab state’s vital interests.

Haryana Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta recently met Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on November 19 and discussed with him the allotment of land for the new building in Chandigarh—the common capital of the two states.

AAP leader Malvinder Singh Kang had earlier said the party and the Punjab government will vehemently oppose the Haryana government’s proposal.

Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa had recently urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to accept Haryana’s proposal “as it would not be short of playing with fire and jeopardizing” Punjab’s “hard-earned peace”.

Meanwhile, SAD leader Chandumajra while expressing grave concern over the alleged worsening law and order situation in Punjab, came down heavily against the AAP government and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, saying, “A fear psychosis prevails in Punjab with people living in the utter panic of gangsters, killers and looters”.

Punjab today is a “headless” state with a government in absentia as the Punjab CM and his party leaders are busy campaigning in Gujarat polls. While daily “broad daylight murders, lootings, and other acts of violence becoming the new norm here,” he said.