AS the process of allotting land to Haryana for its separate Vidhan Sabha in Chandigarh is on, the Punjab government has not reacted to the move even as Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday said that they would oppose the move tooth and nail and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will raise this in the next North Zone Council meet.
AAP chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang told The Indian Express on Friday, “We will raise this issue in NZC meet. We will not allow this to happen. How can they allot land for Haryana Vidhan Sabha in Chandigarh? Haryana should have its Vidhan Sabha in some other city,” he said.
On the government’s silence over the issue, Kang said, “Whatever I am saying is on behalf of the CM only. Why do you say that he is quiet when I am saying all this as party’s spokesperson? We have never been quiet. I addressed a presser against the move then.”
The NZC meet, to be chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, is scheduled for September 26 in Amritsar. The states comprising Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Delhi, Chandigarh, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan form the NZC.
The meeting is likely to be attended by Chief Ministers of Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, Lieutenant Governors of J&K and Ladakh and Administrator of Chandigarh along with their delegations. The government is yet to finalise the issues to be taken up in the meeting. A meeting scheduled by the CM on Friday was postponed.
Haryana had already got approval from the Centre to get land for a separate Vidhan Sabha in Chandigarh, a move seen by Punjab as “dilution of state’s right on Chandigarh as its capital”. Punjab has been staking claim on Chandigarh as its exclusive capital ever since the reorganisation of state in 1966. The Haryana government had offered a piece of land to Chandigarh Administration in lieu of another piece in Chandigarh.
As the land offered by the Haryana government in exchange for land for the construction of a new Vidhan Sabha building falls within the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) of the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary, the Chandigarh Administration has asked Haryana to give another chunk of land or pay Rs 620 crore as the cost of its land.
This land at Saketri village was to be swapped with 10 acres of land to be allotted by the UT near the railway station light point towards the IT Park road. However, it has hit a road block with it falling in an eco-sensitive zone.
However, the renewed process has invited criticism from none other than BJP chief of Punjab, Sunil Jakhar, who opposed it. He said, “Punjab’s right over Chandigarh is non-negotiable. Any purported move to give or exchange our land will never be acceptable to Punjabis and must be avoided. That shockingly absurd demand of separate land by Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann might have created a non-issue, but no attempt to dilute Punjab’s full right over our Capital City will be tolerated.”
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Jakhar was referring to a tweet by Mann last year in which he had demanded a piece of land for Punjab Vidhan Sabha also invoking criticism from the Opposition parties. They had accused the CM of not understanding the nuance as Punjab was already staking its claim on Chandigarh and had its Vidhan Sabha building in Chandigarh. After reorganisation, Punjab’s Vidhan Sabha building was made to accomodate Haryana Vidhan Sabha too. The Opposition had stated that Mann should have rather opposed the move to allot land to Haryana in Chandigarh.
On July 9, Mann had posted on Twitter (which is now X) that Punjab too should be given a piece of land to set up its own Vidhan Sabha on the lines of Haryana. Mann’s tweet had evoked sharp reaction from the Opposition as Punjab has a claim on Chandigarh as capital of parent state before reorganisation. The Opposition had stated that Mann had diluted Punjab’s right by tweeting a demand. No AAP leader had come to support Mann then.
Later, Mann had defended himself, when he had stated, “Have I given in writing that we have no claim over Chandigarh? Already their Assembly is in Chandigarh. If more land is being given to them, then why should we not be considered? Who is speaking on the issue? It is Sukhbir Badal, who shifted all the offices of Punjab to Mohali because he had his own land there, who came up with New Chandigarh. Many times Parkash Singh Badal was the chief minister in Punjab when the BJP was in power in Delhi. Why didn’t they talk about it then?”