No reason for Punjab to oppose Vidhan Sabha land in Chandigarh, says BJP’s Capt Abhimanyu

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had recently announced that Haryana will be granted land in Chandigarh for the construction of a separate Vidhan Sabha building. However, several political leaders from Punjab had opposed the move. Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring had asserted that “Chandigarh exclusively belonged to Punjab and it is its capital” adding “there is no point in providing land for Haryana Vidhan Sabha in Punjab’s capital”. However, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann had demanded a piece of land in Chandigarh from the Centre for a separate Punjab Vidhan Sabha.

Currently, Haryana and Punjab have their respective Vidhan Sabhas in the same complex in Chandigarh. Haryana has been demanding a separate Vidhan Sabha citing that the number of Assembly constituencies may go up to 126 by 2029.

Talking about Amit Shah’s announcement over Vidhan Sabha building land, Captain Abhimanyu said: “This is a welcome step, I express gratitude to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for this initiative. When Haryana had completed 50 years of its inception, he (Khattar) had made a commitment that Haryana should have its own Vidhan Sabha building, High Court and Secretariat in Chandigarh. Chandigarh is our capital and the centre of all these import bodies should be Chandigarh itself.”

Taking on former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda over the issue, Captain Abhimanyu said: “I am surprised that Hooda speaks the language of Punjab (leaders). (When he was CM), Hooda let the SYL issue pending in the Supreme Court under Article 143 even so many years after a decision was given by the apex court over the matter. What were the reasons for it? During the government of Dr. Manmohan Singh, he (Hooda) did not let the SYL water come to Haryana while compromising with the interests of the state. He did not show seriousness for a (separate) High Court and Vidhan Sabha building too.”

Responding to a question regarding Chandigarh three days back, Bhupinder Singh Hooda had stated the Haryana government should not dilute the claim on the capital. Hooda said: “Haryana has full rights over Chandigarh in the ratio of 60-40. If Haryana gets compensation and Hindi speaking areas in the same proportion, then Haryana is ready to make its own capital. The present government is constantly trying to water down the rights of the state. For the land of the assembly in its own capital, the central government is valuing 10 acres of land at Rs 500 crore. It is clear from this that the government is diluting Haryana’s authority over Chandigarh.”