Punjab govt will run from Delhi: Parkash Badal on AAP’s nominees for Rajya Sabha polls
India Today
The Shiromanni Akali and the Congress hit out at the Aam Aadmi Party for nominating Raghav Chadha and Sandeep Pathak for the March 31 Rajya Sabha polls.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday announced five nominees for the upcoming Rajya Sabha vacancies in Punjab. The Opposition parties have targeted the AAP over its candidate list which includes former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Lovely Professional University founder Ashok Mittal, AAP MLA Raghav Chadha, IIT Delhi faculty Sandeep Pathak, and industrialist Sanjeev Arora.
The nomination of Raghav Chadha and Dr Sandeep Pathak has especially raised the Opposition’s ire, with former Punjab CM and SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal claiming that the new Punjab government will be run from New Delhi.
"Rajya Sabha seats have been decided by New Delhi. They will snatch water from us saying Delhi requires it. This government will be run from New Delhi. People were carried away by the promises and now you will see in future that their (Punjab’s ) water is being claimed by them. The Punjab ministers are just for a name...Punjab will be governed by Delhi," Parkash Singh Badal said while speaking to reporters in Muktsar.
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Parkash Singh Badal also tried to link the Satluj Yamuna Link Canal (SYL) controversy with the Rajya Sabha nominations, saying they first nominated “outsiders” and in future will claim Punjab's water.
"Punjab has always been meted out a step motherly treatment by the Union governments. The water is owned by the state where it flows and this is a universal norm. A big tunnel (SYL) was dug earlier and the land was also acquired but I did not let it complete. Let us see what they do now," Badal said.
Another SAD MLA Manpreet S Ayali also said that AAP has cheated Punjabis by doling out Rajya Sabha seats to henchmen and businessmen. Ayali asked AAP if the list was discussed with its Punjab unit.