3 min readChandigarhJan 9, 2017 02:31 AM IST
First published on: Jan 9, 2017 at 02:29 AM IST
Dilapidated Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal at Ropar. (Express photograph by Swadesh Talwar)
Not all political leaders in Haryana are keen to campaign for their respective parties in Punjab. Following the Supreme Court’s decision on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal, they are divided between campaigning in Punjab and “protecting Haryana’s interests”.
Since the November ruling, which says Punjab cannot terminate the SYL agreement, parties across Haryana have demanded implementation while the Punjab government has said the state has no water to spare.
The Haryana BJP has put a condition for its support to its Punjab counterpart. “If the party leadership asks us to campaign in Punjab, we will do so,” said Haryana BJP president Subhash Barala. “But our stand is clear. We want Haryana to get its rightful share of water and will not hesitate to raise this issue in Punjab. It is with this condition that we will campaign.”
Haryana minister Capt Abhimanyu is joint in-charge of the Punjab polls on behalf of the BJP. CM Manohar Lal Khattar has said he will campaign if the party asks him to.
The Haryana Congress is divided. PCC president Ashok Tanwar said the party will support its Punjab candidates, arguing that only when there is a Congress government in Punjab will they have someone to approach for Haryana’s rightful share of water. Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, on the other had, said he will not campaign unless he is assured that Haryana will get its share of water.
“Amarinder Singh [Punjab Congress president] abrogated the water sharing agreement when he was chief minister of Punjab,” recalled Hooda, who has campaigned in earlier Punjab elections. “I will campaign only when Amarinder assures me that when the Congress comes to power, he will promise Haryana its share of water.”
Since reorganisation in 1966, several issues have remained unresolved between the two states including right over Chandigarh and a separate high court, besides SYL. “These issues have been there since the inception of Haryana… These can only be resolved through dialogue which is possible if we have a government of our party,” said Tanwar.
Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal has repeatedly said he will not allow a drop of water to go out of the state. He once announced this on stage in the presence of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and BJP chief Amit Shah.
This has earned criticism from Haryana’s INLD. The INLD, which has campaigned for Badal’s SAD in Punjab over the years, has this time declared that it will not do so. INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala has instead been asking both the BJP and Congress to clarify their stands on SYL. The INLD has been trying to build up campaign to start digging for the SYL canal on February 23 unless the SC decision is implemented by then.
Dilapidated Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal at Ropar. (Express photograph by Swadesh Talwar)
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