“The AAP government had earlier even filed an affidavit in this regard in the Supreme Court.”
Photo: SNS
With the Aam Aadmi Party’s Haryana in-charge and Rajya Sabha member Sushil Gupta promising Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal water to every village in Haryana once the AAP forms government in the state in 2025, Opposition parties in Punjab accused the Arvind Kejriwal-led party of misleading Punjab on the issue.
The Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly and Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa said Gupta’s statement shows how a fixed game is being played between AAP and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“I had made this warning on the floor of Vidhan Sabha (Assembly) on 1 April this month. Arvind Kejriwal and AAP Punjab have misled Punjab,” Bajwa said in a tweet referring to the stand of the AAP in Punjab that the water of SYL is only for Punjab.
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The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) asked Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to make his stand clear on this issue immediately.
Terming the development as shocking, senior SAD leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said Kejriwal has earlier gone on record to state that water should be released to Haryana by Punjab.
“The AAP government had earlier even filed an affidavit in this regard in the Supreme Court. This latest declaration by the Delhi Member of Parliament makes it clear that AAP is following an anti-Punjab line on the issue of river waters and wants Punjab’s waters to be released to Haryana and Delhi. The real face of AAP is before Punjabis now”, Dr Cheema added.
In a viral video, Gupta is heard telling reporters, “It has been 50 years since the separation of Haryana and Punjab. During this, there has been a Congress government at the Centre, Punjab and Haryana several times. Many times there has been a BJP government at the Centre, Punjab and Haryana. These people do not want to solve the issue. They want to maintain the issue. So that vote politics continues on this,”.
Gupta further said, “Our government has come to Punjab. Now we have a government in Punjab. In 2024, the government of Aam Aadmi Party is going to be formed in Haryana also. In 2025, water will reach every farm in Haryana. This is not our promise but our guarantee,”.
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