The Punjab Congress on Wednesday lashed out at the Badals accusing them of misleading the people by taking a sham high moral ground on the Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) issue. They accused the previous Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) led government for brazenly selling off the state’s water rights and failing to protect its interest in the courts for ten years.
Punjab Congress leaders led by Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, in a press statement issued on Wednesday, said both Parkash Singh Badal and Sukhbir Badal were now trying to provoke chief minister (CM) Captain Amarinder Singh to defy the Supreme Court, clearly exposing their utter lack of faith in the judiciary.
They said that Badals have never believed in the rule of law and took no meaningful steps to fight Punjab’s SYL case while they were in power. They accused former Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal for deliberately got the case messed up in court as part of the deal he had struck with former Haryana CM Devi Lal during an earlier tenure.
They said, the main reason for bringing in the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004, which was enacted during the previous tenure of Capt Amarinder, was never presented before the judiciary. "What is more, AK Ganguly, the main architect of the Act, was removed by Badals from the legal team appointed to take the case forward in the court," they added.