Reject Haryana’s land swap proposal for Vidhan Sabha, Majithia appeals to Purohit

However, Jakhar said there should never be any doubt in anyone’s mind over Chandigarh belonging to Punjab only.

Majithia, in a letter to Purohit, said Chandigarh was an inalienable part of Punjab, and the Haryana government could not apply for a land swap without taking the consent of the parent state.

The Akali leader’s statement came a day after Haryana Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta met Purohit and discussed with him about land allotment for the construction of a new building for Haryana Vidhan Sabha here.

Haryana has sought a 10-acre land in Chandigarh for additional building of its state assembly. It has identified the 10-acre piece of land adjacent to the traffic lights of Madhya Marg near railway station road junction. In lieu of it, Haryana has offered the 10-acre site in Panchkula.

In July at the northern zone council meeting in Jaipur, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had announced land for setting up an additional building for Haryana Vidhan Sabha in Chandigarh.

The Haryana government had been making this demand for the last one year.

At present, the Punjab and Haryana governments share the Vidhan Sabha complex which is next to the Punjab and Haryana Civil Secretariat in Union Territory of Chandigarh.

Majithia apprised the governor that the issue also concerned the sentiments of Punjabis which might get inflamed in the same manner as in the case of the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) issue.

Punjab has gone through a period of strife and nothing should be done which has the propensity to vitiate the atmosphere in the region. Haryana thinks it will strengthen its case in Chandigarh by establishing a separate Vidhan Sabha but it is playing with fire, the letter said.

The SAD on its part is committed to opposing this insidious agenda vigorously in keeping with the sentiments of Punjabis who find this proposal intolerable and unacceptable, he said.

Majithia also informed the administrator that the Haryana government’s application was also in contravention of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, the Rajiv Longowal Accord and also against the spirit of federalism as a unilateral decision on this request would be discriminatory towards Punjab.

Former MP Jakhar cautioned leaders of both the states to avoid any spectre-mongering for political gains over this highly sensitive issue which could be misused by vested interests to foment strife in the border state.

Urging both chief ministers to come together and spend their collective energies to resolve genuine issues of public concern, Jakhar said the issue needs deliberate handling and must be resolved mutually.

“Why cannot we run the Vidhan Sabha which is an internationally reputed heritage building on rotational basis, say for the first 15 days one state uses it and then it is available to the other state. This way even the whole building is available for each state,” Jakhar said referring to Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker’s request for more office rooms for the official conduct of business.

Pointing out the dismal trend of fewer sittings being followed by both Punjab and Haryana, Jakhar said that as per data available of the last five years, on average both the legislatures have not sat for more than 15 days in a year. This further blows a hole in the manufactured theory of need for separate space for assembly building, he said, adding that “what is required is to have more sittings in the existing Vidhan Sabha building. Moreover, in this digital day and age of i-pads and e-offices, what’s the need for more office space”.

Jakhar termed Haryana Speaker’s demand for separate space for state Vidhan Sabha in Chandigarh “illogical and baseless” which should not have been raised in the first place.

“I still can’t understood as to why Bhagwant Mann ji as Punjab CM while responding to his Haryana counterpart’s demand for separate space had raised a similar demand. By asking for separate place for Punjab Vidhan Sabha, the Punjab CM not only exhibited his serious lack of political insight about issues of Punjab but also gave impetus to Haryana’s pointless demand,” the BJP leader said.

Even if Haryana still thinks that it needs separate land, it should consider the area abutting Mansa Devi Complex in Panchkula which is in fact closer to the present set-up than the site asked for by Haryana, Jakhar said.

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Harjinder Singh Dhami said only Punjab has the right over Chandigarh, the city established after ruining dozens of villages of Punjab and no one will be allowed to rob this right.

With PTI inputs