Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh has once again reiterated his stand on the issue of Satluj-Yamuna link (SYl) canal of resigning en mass with all the party legislators in case the Supreme Court arrives at decision unfavourable to the State.
The former chief minister, at the same time, accused the Badal government of failing to properly defend the rights of Punjab on the SYl issue in the Supreme Court.
Capt Amarinder announced the decision to collectively resign after state unit’s meeting with the All India Congress Committee (AICC) leaders. “The party has unanimously decided to stand by its earlier decision that all MlAs will resign en block in the event of the Supreme Court’s decision going against Punjab. I myself would resign from the lok Sabha and go to the people’s court,” said Capt Amarinder.
The meeting decided that the MlAs will submit mass resignations from the state assembly “in the interest of the people of Punjab, who will suffer serious shortage of water in the event of the SYl decision going against the state.”
It was decided that the MlAs will resign from the Vidhan Sabha and come out on the streets to fight for the rights of the people of the state.
“We will be left with no option but to take to the streets in the interest of Punjab and its people, and the responsibility of this will be on Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for failing to protect the rights of the state,” said Capt Amarinder.
Pointing out that Badal had failed to even uphold the sanctity of the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004, which his government had passed to annul all inter-state water sharing agreements signed by Punjab, Capt Amarinder said that the Akali leader had been busy playing dirty politics on the issue at the cost of the lives of the people by launching morchas.
“In fact, the NDA, of which Badal’s Shiromani Akali Dal is a part, took an anti-Punjab stand during the hearing on the Presidential Reference pertaining to the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004, laying bare the hypocrisy of the Badals in this whole affair,” he said.
Earlier, the leaders reiterated that while the Congress respected the Supreme Court, it is also duty-bound towards Punjab, and “hence we will find legislative and constitutional ways and means to safeguard our water.”
Citing experts’ view, they had pointed out that the moment the SYl canal flows, 9.75 acres of land (3.91 lakh hectares) will go dry and barren across several districts in the Malwa region, with Bathinda, Faridkot and Ferozepur being the worst affected since the ground water in these districts is saline and carries toxins such as boron and fluorides.
At the meeting, Capt Amarinder also lashed out at the Badal government for its failure to defend the state properly in the Apex Court alleging complicity on the part of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal with the central government.
Badal had been playing into the hands of the Centre on issue, including the recent unnecessary and uncalled for evacuation of people from the border areas of Punjab, he said.
Badal government’s inability to protect the rights of the people of Punjab is also clearly manifest in the way it has been handling the SYl case in the Supreme Court, said Capt Amarinder.
Even though Badal has been publicly maintaining that Punjab does not have a single drop of water to share with anyone, it is more than clear that his concern is only superficial and he has actually been working against the state’s interest by not properly defending its stance on the SYl issue, said Capt Amarinder.
Punjab Congress president also accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of showing similar double standards, with its leader Arvind Kejriwal openly taking contradictory stands on the issue.
While at a May 2016 meeting in Ropar, Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal had maintained that he was against the construction of SYl, just three days later he was singing a different tune, saying there should be “no politics on water and everyone, whether Punjab, Haryana or Delhi, should get water.”
The leaders also discussed the party’s poll strategy for the upcoming Assembly elections and prepared a roadmap for the next phase of campaigning.
Besides Capt Amarinder, the meeting was attended by AICC general secretary Asha Kumari, general secretary and Punjab Campaign Committee chairperson Ambika Soni, AICC secretary and Punjab in-charge Harish Chaudhry, MlA and former Punjab Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, former PPCC president Pratap Singh Bajwa, MPs Chaudhary Santokh Singh and Ravneet Bittu, senior vice president (PPCC) lal Singh, Manpreet Badal and Dr Raj Chabewal.