Congress, Akali Dal corner Punjab govt over Haryana’s proposal of Assembly building construction in Chandigarh

In July, this year, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal revealed that the Centre has accepted the State’s demand of giving land in Chandigarh for the construction of additional building

The Congress party and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab on Monday attacked the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) days after Haryana Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta met Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator Banwarilal Purohit and sought a 10-acre land in the Union Territory for the construction of an additional building for the Assembly.

In July, this year, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal revealed that the Centre has accepted the State’s demand of giving land in Chandigarh for the construction of additional building. Notably, soon after this, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann urged the Central government to allot land to Punjab on the lines of Haryana to build its own Assembly.

Punjab and Haryana State Assembly complexes are housed in a single building in Chandigarh, and Haryana had been raising the demand for demarcation under the terms of the creation of Haryana from Punjab in 1966.

Punjab’s Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa on Monday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention on the issue, cautioning that Haryana’s demand is fraught with danger of disturbing the already worrisome law and order situation in Punjab. Meanwhile, the SAD has decided to convene a meeting on November 24 to finalise its strategy on the issue of the proposal of allotment of land to Haryana in Chandigarh.

In his letter to the Prime Minister, Mr. Bajwa wrote, “I seek your benign indulgence for taking this liberty to advert your kind attention to the demand of the Haryana CM, for 10-acre land for the construction of a separate Vidhan Sabha on a land-to-land exchange basis in Chandigarh as it is fraught with danger of disturbing the already worrisome law and order situation in the State.”

Mr. Bajwa said the claim of Punjab over Chandigarh as its capital is well recognised as back as 1970. “This issue also impinges the psyche of the people of Punjab as is evident from a series of sharp reactions occasioned since this issue was raised in the 30th Northern Zonal Council Meeting in Jaipur, by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. Surprisingly, the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann committed a Himalayan blunder by seeking an identical deal by demanding separate land for the construction of the assembly building and also the bifurcation of Punjab and Haryana High Court, which has attracted sharp criticism from intellectuals as well as all political parties in the State,” he wrote.

Mr. Bajwa added that going ahead with the proposal could jeopardise the hard-earned peace in Punjab costing the sacrifice of lives of thousands of innocent persons for two decades and continuing sufferings of their dependents till now besides endangering the national security in the bordering state of Punjab.