All-party MLAs led by Badal meet Solanki, get no assurance on assent

[related-post]

On Tuesday, the all-party delegation led by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal met Solanki but failed to get a categorical assurance from him on his assent for the Bill.

In an embarrassment for the ruling party members of the delegation, the Governor asked them to give him a copy of the Bill for which the delegation had come to meet him but he had not seen yet as it was not available. The Opposition was quick to capitalise on the issue and said that the lack of homework done by the ruling alliance showed that they were not serious about the issue.

Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda told The Indian Express that the Governor “should not give his assent to the Bill as it is a step to hit the federal structure of the country. Haryana government has also paid for the land”.

Hooda termed the Bill nothing but a “political stunt” by the Punjab government before the 2017 elections, adding that the Punjab government should have refrained from taking such a decision when the case is sub judice in the Supreme Court.

Senior advocate Harbhagwan Singh, who was the Advocate General of Punjab as well as Haryana in the past, says, “In the given circumstances, the best option for the Governor is to refer the Bill to the President for his consideration.”

In an indication that the battle will move to the courts, Haryana Advocate General Baldev Raj Mahajan told The Indian Express that the government would file an application against the Bill in the ongoing case before the Supreme Court on Wednesday. The case will come up for hearing in the Supreme Court on Thursday.

Chief Minister Badal, however, said the Governor seemed “very positive” and that the ultimate decision on the assent to the Bill rested with him.

Badal said the Governor had given the delegation a patient hearing and had told them that he was seized of the matter’s importance. Badal said the issue of sharing waters was a non-negotiable one as Punjab did not have even a drop of water to spare. It will have wider ramifications and will cause distress to the industry in the state as well as its farmers. We already do not have water to spare and have to resort to tubewells for farming,” he said.

Badal said the state will take the strongest of steps to protect its interests. When asked about reports that there was RSS pressure to maintain status quo on the issue, the CM said, “I do not know about it, I have not met the RSS or anybody. I want to assure everybody that Punjab’s water will remain with Punjab,”.

The delegation comprised members of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress as well as the two independent MLAs from Ludhiana, Simarjeet Singh Bains and Balwinder Singh Bains. Immediately after meeting with Governor got over, Congress MLA Kuljit Singh Nagra and the Bains brothers declared that they were shocked to see that the government had not even bothered to take the bill to the Governor while seeking his assent. “The non-serious attitude of the government regarding this issue is reflected by the fact that the Bill has not even been sent to the Governor,” said Simarjeet Bains.

Seeking to step up the pressure on SAD, Leader of the Opposition Charanjit Singh Channi recalled how the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004, enacted when Capt Amarinder Singh was Chief Minister, was signed by the Governor within hours. Channi said that the CM was playing with the sentiments of the people and trying to make an election issue rather than displaying any seriousness.

The SYL issued rocked the Haryana Assembly again today with Leader of Opposition Abhay Chautala accusing the government of not doing enough to safeguard the state’s interests. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had been reiterating that the state government shall take all possible steps against the Bill passed by Punjab Assembly.