Charging successive Congress-led Governments at the Centre for depriving Punjab of its capital, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday said that time has come for Narendra Modi-led Government to make Chandigarh the capital of the State. Chandigarh was made the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, following the carving of Haryana as a separate State in 1966.
“Since long, Punjab has been the victim of injustice of Union Government. But now, the time has come when Modi Government must give justice to the State by handing over Chandigarh to it (Punjab),” said Badal while interacting with the media persons on the sidelines of 65th World Sikh Education Conference organised by Chief Khalsa Diwan.
Badal said that as per universally accepted law, Chandigarh was part and parcel of Punjab and “Chandigarh was and would remain an integral part of Punjab”. “Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has always struggled for safeguarding the interests of the state and we will continue our endeavour to get back Chandigarh,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that time and again, the Congress-led governments at the Centre had done a grave injustice to the state by denying its capital, legitimate share in river waters and even the Punjabi speaking areas. He said that there is barely an example in the country other than Punjab, where the parent state has been deprived of its capital, after the formation of linguistic states.
Replying to a query, the Chief Minister said that the everlasting alliance between SAD and BJP was in the interest of the state and the country. “The alliance is necessary for the sake of ensuring progress, peace and communal harmony in the state,” he said.
Earlier, Badal had underscored the need for imparting ‘purposeful education’ to the youth so as to enable them to earn their livelihood with self-esteem and pride. Badal said that the state government has laid special emphasis on opening a network of skill training institutes in the state so as to open new vistas of employment through education for the youth.