Questioning the silence of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on the controversial Sutlej-Yamuna link (SYl) canal, Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh on Sunday said that the Delhi Chief Minister was not supporting Punjab on the sharing of the State’s river waters.
“Seventy-two hours after the (Supreme Court) judgment came in, and despite widespread criticism of his lack of comment on the matter, Kejriwal has maintained a deafening silence on SYl. This has unmasked his double standards on the vital SYl issue, on which he has been doing a flip-flop for the past several weeks in what can only be considered his desperate bid to save his government in Delhi and keep the people of his birthplace in Haryana happy,” said Capt Amarinder.
Capt Amarinder said that after the Supreme Court’s order on the water sharing and SYl issue came last week, Kejriwal had put off his proposed Punjab visit.
“Kejriwal has sent out a clear and unequivocal message that he is not supporting the State on the SYl issue. He continues to remain strangely silent on the Supreme Court verdict on SYl, and has, expectedly, chosen to keep away from the state that is facing an imminent water crisis in the aftermath of the Apex Court’s verdict on the critical issue, which has huge ramifications for Punjab,” he said.
“The AAP leader’s behaviour is totally in keeping with his habit of running away from problems,” he pointed out.
The State Congress chief said that for a person who has always loved taking a stand on every issue, and who did not waste a minute reacting to the Modi government’s demonetization move, “this persistent silence on SYl is completely inexplicable”.
Kejriwal, who was slated to release his party’s Dalit manifesto for the Punjab Assembly elections during his visit, has suddenly disappeared from the scene, leaving his own party workers in the lurch, he said adding that the AAP leader has exposed his vested interests completely, even to his own party workers.