Days after the Supreme Court asked the Union government to conduct a survey of the land allotted for the construction of a part of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday said the apex court has affirmed Haryana’s rights over the SYL canal.

Addressing farmers at an agricultural fair in Hisar on Tuesday, the chief minister said the canal would unquestionably be constructed in compliance with the Supreme Court’s directives.

In this context, Khattar drew attention to the doublespeak of the Aam Aadmi Party. He said the farmers of Haryana understand those indulging in double-faced politics and that their duplicity won’t work in Haryana.

Justifying Haryana’s rightful claim over the SYL Canal, he said its implementation is indispensable for the compliance of the Supreme Court’s decision.

Reiterating his government’s commitment to the welfare of farmers of Haryana, he praised them for their exceptional contribution to the state’s economy, not only in the realm of agriculture but also across various fields.

The emotive issue of the SYL has political parties in both Punjab and Haryana competing with each other in championing the causes of their respective states in the matter.

In Punjab, both the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Congress held protests in Chandigarh over the SYL issue. The Punjab Congress held a sit-in demonstration “to raise voice for the rights of Punjab “on the issue of SYL.

Speaking on the occasion, Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring asserted, “The Congress party won’t let a single drop of Punjab’s water go anywhere and will continue the struggle in the same way.”

On the other hand, Mr. Badal, stating that water is a natural resource for Punjab just like coal is for Chhattisgarh and marble for Rajasthan, alleged that this resource has been unilaterally taken away from us by successive Congress governments from 1955 when half of the river waters were given to Rajasthan and then in 1976 when another half of the remaining water was given to Haryana.

He said former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal tried to correct this injustice by filing a case in the apex court challenging Article 78 of the Reorganization Act which bestowed power to the central government to allocate water resources to the new States. “However, in 1981 former prime minister Indira Gandhi prevailed upon Darbara Singh to withdraw this case from the Supreme Court and agree to the construction of the SYL canal which was subsequently ceremoniously inaugurated by Indira Gandhi in 1982”.

Leading the SAD protest march towards the Punjab CM’s residence in Chandigarh, party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal alleged the Aam Aadmi Party is readying to give more of the state’s river waters to Haryana and Rajasthan to derive political advantage in the forthcoming Assembly elections.

He said the Punjab government expressed its willingness to give water to Haryana but for protests from the opposition and the issue of acquisition of land for SYL whose land was returned back to farmers by former CM Parkash Singh Badal in 2016.