The Leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha Partap Singh Bajwa on Sunday categorically asserted that he, along with the Punjab Congress, will always stand firm to safeguard the interests of Punjab and is committed to robustly defend Punjab's rights over Chandigarh. “My and my party's stand is crystal clear that not even a single inch of Chandigarh could go to HP or Haryana,” said Bajwa.

Senior Congress leader said that he had never remained silent on the issues concerning the interests of Punjab. On the contrary, it is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) – led Punjab Government that attempted to dilute Punjab's claim on the capital and river waters."

“AAP government has already surrendered Punjab's right over Chandigarh. Mann has yet to delete his July 9, 2022, tweet in which he demanded a piece of land in Chandigarh from the Centre for a separate Punjab Vidhan Sabha. This means that Mann still owns his statement in that tweet, which actually weakens Punjab's case,” he said.

Bajwa said: “Besides this, AAP Government never presented the case of Punjab's rights on its river waters strongly enough. In a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in July 2022, AAP Government's Cabinet Ministers — Harjot Singh Bains and Harpal Singh Cheema — demanded a new tribunal for assessing the state’s river water that weakened Punjab's rights on river waters. Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann never cited riparian law to claim Punjab's rights on river waters in meetings held lately.”

Unleashing a volley of questions at Mann, Bajwa said that he (Mann) must explain now what had he done so far to ensure that the Punjab Government was working on its own without the intervention from the 'pawns' sent by the AAP Delhi in Punjab. “Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, in reality, is nothing more than a rubber stamp. It is the Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal who has been running the Punjab Government through his close confidants,” he added. 

Qadian MLA said that there was enough evidence to prove that AAP was working hand in glove with its master BJP. “It has recently lent its support to the BJP on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), which could upset the cordial environment of the country. AAP extended its veiled support to the BJP on CAA. AAP also backed BJP in August 2019, when Article 370 was revoked and the full state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two Union Territories,” he reminded.