Cong stages walkout amid uproar over SYL

It (SYL) is not an issue concerning any single political party of Haryana, hence the decision to see PM together was taken. Why did the CM call upon Modi on his own ABHAY CHAUTALA, Leader of opposition

I was in Delhi for the Niti Ayog meeting and incidently, the PMO informed me that I had been given an appointment by Modi. I discussed issues other than the SYL matter as well.

M L KHATTAR, Haryana CM

CHANDIGARH : A huge uproar was witnessed in the Haryana assembly, convened to table the Haryana Goods and Services Bill, 2017, as principal opposition parties, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and Congress demanded to know why chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi alone on the Sutlej Yamuna Canal (SYL) link canal issue.

Leader of opposition Abhay Chautala raised the issued and said, “It was not an issue concerning any single political party of Haryana, hence the decision of all party meeting to see President and PM together and urge upon them to get the recent verdict of the Supreme Court on SYL canal which was in favour of Haryana, implemented,” Abhay said.

Former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, also sought the same reply from Khattar even though, speaker Kanwar Pal repeatedly told members of opposition parties that it was a session specially called for the GST bill, besides some other businesses, and the SYL issue could be discussed later. At this point of time, din gripped the House, as led by Abhay, all the MLAs of INLD and Congress created a ruckus demanding reply on the details of discussion of Khattar with Modi.

The Congress MLAs staged a walkout after the Speaker told the House that Khattar would give his reply after the listed businesses.

Later in the evening, Khattar in his reply said that his meeting with Modi was not only on the issue of SYL as there were many other issues as well.

“I had sought a general appointment, and not an official one, from Modi after Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh called on him. I was in Delhi for the meeting of Niti Ayog and incidently, the Prime Minister’s office informed me that I had been given an appointment by Modi. The issues I discussed with Modi included Haryana's stand on SYL canal, separate high court for Haryana and Hisar international airport. Yet, if required I could make details of the meeting public,” he said.