The Shiromani Akali Dal, on Friday, demanded that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann should register a written protest with Amit Shah against the latter’s announcement to allot land to Haryana for separate Assembly in Chandigarh during the Union home minister’s visit to  the Union Territory (UT).

 SAD spokesperson and former minister Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said it is an appropriate opportunity for the Punjab CM to register a written protest with Shah demanding withdrawal of his statement on allotment of land to Haryana for construction of separate state Assembly in Chandigarh.

He said similarly Mann should also withdraw his  own statement, which he had given on instructions of Aam Aadmi Party convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal demanding land for Punjab also in Chandigarh, which is joint capital of both Punjab and Haryana.

Dr Cheema said Chandigarh belongs to Punjab and one cannot demand a plot in a land which belongs to him. The SAD leader also saidAkali Dal has already registered a written protest in the form of a memorandum submitted to the Punjab Governor by a delegation led by SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal.

 He said SAD is committed to this cause and will not allow the Union government to hand over this land to Haryana but the AAP government of Punjab should not keep on betraying the people of the state.

 He said it was now the responsibility of Punjab CM to do the same and hand over written protest to the Union home minister. He said the Union home minister should be made aware of the stand of Punjabis in Chandigarh. He said that apart from the issue of Chandigarh, Punjab CM should also raise the issue of converting Punjab University into a Central University and he should clearly tell Shah that Punjab will not let this happen.

Union home minister Amit Shah had on 9 July announced land for setting up an additional Haryana Assembly building in Chandigarh.  This was after  Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar made a demand for building a separate state Assembly in Chandigarh during a meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Jaipur.  Following this, Mann demanded similar land for Punjab in a tweet.