Nearly three-decade after the Rajiv-longowal pact was inked, the issue of transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab has once again come to fore with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) holding the reins in both the States and the Centre.
Punjab unit of the BJP has made it clear that they are in favour of handing over Chandigarh to the State, and the issue would once more be raised at the appropriate level with their parties at the helm of affairs in Haryana as well.But the flipside of the issue is that the other matters of controversy such as Satluj-Yamuna link (SYl) canal, sharing of river waters, among others, too may head towards a resolution.
In fact, Punjab BJP’s president Kamal Sharma on Tuesday said that the party was looking forward to an early resolution of pending issues with their Government in Haryana also.“You never know, Haryana agrees to give Chandigarh to Punjab,” commented Sharma when he was asked about numerous contentious issues lingering since years between the two neighbouring states.
He said: “The two states have divergent views on the issue with both claiming their stakes on Chandigarh. But, as BJP has always included in its manifesto that Punjab should get Chandigarh and other Punjabi-speaking areas, we stand by it. We are hopeful that the new BJP government may pave way for the resolution of the issue.”
As of now, Sharma has, however, denied taking up the issue of transferring Chandigarh with the party high command or the Centre.Over the decades, Chandigarh has become the bone of contention between Punjab and Haryana with both staking their claims on it. The demand of immediate transfer of Chandigarh was raised every now and then by the both the state governments, especially with the elections round the corner.
The Governor Address, given by the state governor before the Budget session every year, made a mention of this issue without fail.In fact, the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP in Punjab always included this burning issue in its election manifesto.
Even as Haryana lay its claim on the capital city, Punjab had accused the Congress Governments at the Centre for “discriminating and meting out injustice” by delaying in transferring Chandigarh and other Punjabi speaking areas to the state.Punjab has all along been arguing that being the parent state, it has the first and legitimate right over the city.Chandigarh — the City Beautiful — was to be transferred to Punjab on January 26, 1986, as a part of the Rajiv-longowal Accord.
But the implementation of this point of the accord was scuttled virtually at the last minutes.Since then, Chandigarh has still not been transferred to either of the states, and enjoying the status of Union Territory while serving the capital of both the states.Sharma also hinted that the BJP Government in Haryana may decided to go against the previous Congress government’s decision to form a separate body to manage gurdwaras in the State.
“BJP was opposing the decision earlier… and it was said that if the party comes to power, it would scrap the Congress government’s decision,” he added.