Accusing Bhagwant Mann of surrendering Punjab’s river waters to Rajasthan, Shiromani Akali Dal decided to stage a protest against the Punjab chief minister tomorrow at Abohar.

The Akalis were agitated following claims by Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) chief and a member of Parliament (MP) from Nagaur Hanuman Beniwal about a meeting the Punjab CM is purported to have at Bathinda on Sunday over irrigation water crisis being faced by farmers in the Hanumangarh and Sriganganagar districts of Rajasthan which borders Punjab.

“Punjab chief minister and my friend Bhagwant Mann will soon take a positive decision as per the demand of the farmers with regard to the agitation that has been going on over 1250 cusecs of water,” Beniwal said in a tweet after the meeting.

 Terming it “a secret and arbitrary sellout” to Rajasthan, Badal said SAD will not remain a mute witness to AAP Government’s surrender and loot of Punjab’s river waters.

“We asked the Punjab CM to clarify his position on the reports, but although more than a day has passed since the reports appeared, he still chooses to hide behind silence in order to quietly go ahead with the surrender. We won’t allow this to happen,” he asserted.

Badal, who will lead the dharna to commence at 11 am, said this latest “surrender” by the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP Government in Punjab was a mere continuation of a long history of betrayals of Punjab’s and Panth’s vital interests on every religious, economic, territorial and river waters issues.

“Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has always led in this loot of Punjab’s river waters to both Haryana and Delhi and Bhagwant Mann has always quietly and meekly acquiesced in this loot,” the SAD chief said.

Badal further said that following instructions from his boss (Aam Aadmi Party chief) Kejriwal,  Mann has now agreed to sign away more river water to Rajasthan, dealing a death blow to the beleaguered farmers of Punjab and to the detriment of the economy of the state.

In this context, he recalled how Mann had earlier virtually surrendered Punjab’s legitimate claim to Chandigarh by begging for space in our own capital to set up a separate legislative Assembly instead of asking Haryana to shift out of here.