Sukhbir asks Kejriwal not to play politics on SYL canal
Darpan News Desk IANS, 20 Apr, 2022 09:57 AM
New Delhi, April 20 (IANS) Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Badal on Wednesday asked Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal not to play politics on the sensitive issue of the Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal even as he asked Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to urge him to withdraw the guarantee given on this issue to the people of Haryana.
Talking to the media at Gurdwara Rakabganj here, Badal said the AAP had again started befooling Punjabis in its age-old tradition. The Punjab Finance Minister had now announced that the state's river waters would not flow into Haryana, even as a Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament had given a guarantee on behalf of Kejriwal in Haryana that water from the SYL canal would irrigate each and every field in the state.
Asserting that this insidious conduct of AAP had the potential to inflame sentiments in the entire region, Badal said the continued silence of Mann on this issue was being read as a weakness by Punjabis.
"It seems Mann knows the real intentions of Kejriwal which the latter has made public earlier also by filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court demanding water be released to Haryana and Delhi through the SYL. If Mann does not step in and ask Kejriwal to withdraw the guarantee given by his party to the people of Haryana, he should be prepared to face the angst of Punjabis who will not allow one drop of water to flow into Haryana from the SYL canal."
Badal said as far as SAD was concerned, the issue of the SYL had been closed forever in 2016 when then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal denotified all land acquired to build the canal and handed it back to farmers.
"Now there is no land available for construction of the canal. Thinking of taking water from the canal to Haryana amounts to day dreaming," he added.
Answering a query, Badal condemned the manner in which Punjab Police was being misused to victimise the political opponents of AAP.
"Bhagwant Mann should not allow misuse of Punjab Police on the directions of the Delhi Chief Minister. We are witnessing cases being registered against all those who have stood up to AAP and the latest victim is Kumar Vishwas. Punjabis did not give power to AAP to enable it to settle its political scores. The mandate was to provide transparent, persecution free governance as well as fulfill all the promises made to the people.
"The AAP government should concentrate on this rather than registering false cases against its opponent and sending Punjab Police personnel to their doorsteps to harass and persecute them," he added.
Acceding to the major demand of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Channi said the foundation stone of a convention centre for PITEX spread over 10 acres would be laid within a week to enable the organisation to carry out diverse range of activities to promote trade and industry in the region in a big way.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday informed the Lok Sabha that Punjab had reported four deaths due to shortage of Oxygen during the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.
Welcoming the leaders in the party, Shekhawat said that the BJP will be strengthened in Punjab. "They have faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and they will strengthen the organisation in the state. BJP is moving ahead in Punjab and will create a new history," he said, noting all the new joinees are prominent names in their respective fields.
Sharing details, Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota said keeping in view the recent recoveries of RDX, hand grenades and pistols from the border district, strong barricading has been done.
The BJP, which is likely to contest the Punjab assembly polls on its own for the first time after its ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) walked away, will be banking on leaders from the opposition parties and prominent personalities to make its electoral presence felt in the state. In the last assembly polls in 2017, the BJP had won only three out of the 23 seats it contested.
Slamming Amarinder Singh for his "myopic" mindset towards the poor, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said on Friday that the former CM targeted him because he had raised issues of the common man.
