Punjab parties react sharply to Haryana’s land swap proposal
: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday said that Punjab has the sole right over Chandigarh, and Haryana will not be allowed to construct its separate legislative assembly in the city.
In a statement issued here, AAP’s state chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang asserted that Chandigarh belongs to Punjab and will always remain so. “The AAP and its government will vehemently oppose any proposal of the Haryana government to build its separate legislative assembly in Chandigarh,” he insisted. Kang said that Haryana should set up its legislative assembly in Panchkula, Karnal or elsewhere. Haryana has sought a 10-acre land in Chandigarh for the additional building of its state assembly. It has identified the 10-acre piece of land adjacent to the traffic lights of Madhya Marg near the railway station road junction. In lieu of it, Haryana has offered the 10-acre site in Panchkula.
Leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa on Monday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating that Haryana’s land swap proposal is fraught with the danger of disturbing the already “worrisome law and order situation” in Punjab.
The senior Congress leader urged the PM not to accept the Haryana government’s proposal as it would jeopardize the hardearned peace in Punjab. “The (Haryana’s) demand has no leg to stand because the boundaries of Panchkula, already a fully developed town of Haryana, start just two kilometres beyond the Chandigarh railway station chowk on the Madhya Marg, Chandigarh, where buildings for both the high court as well as Vidhan Sabha can be conveniently set up for Haryana without objection from any side,” he wrote. SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia has also appealed to Chandigarh administrator and Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit not to accept the Haryana government’s proposal.
BJP leader Sunil Jakhar urged both Haryana and Punjab CMs to show magnanimity and utilise the Vidhan Sabha on rotational basis. However, Jakhar said there should never be any doubt in anyone’s mind over Chandigarh belonging to Punjab only.