No call yet on giving land to Haryana: Kataria

Amid opposition by various political parties over Centre’s move to allot land to the Haryana Government for a new Assembly building in Chandigarh, Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria today said no such allotment had been made so far.

The Governor, who is also the UT Administrator, said the state (Haryana) had been raising the demand for quite some time, but no decision had been taken in this regard.

Proposal pending

A proposal by them (Haryana) has been pending for long... No decision has been taken on this issue

so far. Gulab Chand Kataria, Punjab Guv

“No land has been allotted (to Haryana). A proposal by them (government) has been pending for long. I can’t say anything on this. No decision has been taken on this issue so far,” said Kataria on the sidelines of an event at a private university here. The ruling AAP in Punjab and other parties, including the Congress and SAD, have expressed strong resentment over BJP leader and former Haryana Speaker Gian Chand Gupta’s claim last week that the Environment Ministry at the Centre had granted green clearance for the exchange of land with Chandigarh to construct the new building.

Critics have also emerged from within the BJP, as Punjab state chief Sunil Jakhar and former BJP MLA Manoranjan Kalia have expressed their dissent.

Gupta had claimed that the Ministry of Forest, Environment and Climate Change had given environment and forest clearance to 12 acres located in Sector 2 of Mansa Devi Complex, Panchkula, for a swap with 10 acres in Chandigarh to construct the building there. “The 12-acre land parcel is out of the ambit of the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ),” Gupta had claimed.

The proposed new building will be constructed near the railway station light point, towards the IT Park road in Chandigarh. Gupta had initiated the process to establish the new Assembly building in Chandigarh. The allocation of land for building was announced by Home Minister Amit Shah on July 9, 2022. The decision had come in response to Haryana ex-CM ML Khattar’s demand for the state’s rights in the existing Vidhan Sabha in Chandigarh, which it currently shared with Punjab. The demand arose from the projected rise in the number of Assembly seats following the 2026 delimitation exercise.

Haryana’s plea for additional land is based on the anticipated population growth after the 2026 decadal census. If the population of Haryana increases, the number of Assembly constituencies will rise from the current 90 to 126, and the number of Lok Sabha constituencies from 10 to 14.