- It appears the decision was made under pressure from Arvind Kejriwal
Chandigarh: Senior Congress Leader & Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Partap Singh Bajwa on Friday has termed the stance of Bhagwant Mann government over the river waters of the state was not only weak but also lacked clarity and conviction.
Bajwa said Bhagwant Mann during his maiden press conference after he met with his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar appeared completely out of sorts as if he had no proper knowledge and understanding of the historical context of the Punjab waters.
“ Mann was time and again harping on just one point that since Punjab did not have sufficient water therefore there is no question of the construction of the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal. In other words did he mean if Punjab had sufficient water he would have acceded to the request of Haryana on SYL ”, asked Bajwa.
Bajwa said Bhagwant Mann during his media interaction not even once said that river water was a state subject and both the supreme court as well as the union government had no constitutional and legal right to arbitrarily decide on the distribution of the river waters between the two warring states.
“ Haryana being a non riparian state has no right over Punjab waters. Therefore under no rule of the land it cannot force Punjab to expedite the construction of the SYL”, said Bajwa.
Bajwa said Bhagwant Mann’s statement that he was ready to accompany Manohar Lal Khattar to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi so that the neighboruing state could get water from Yamuna and Ganges rivers was also not very wise.
“ First of all, the Prime Minister of India has no authority to decide on sharing of river waters. Besides in both Haryana and at the center the BJP is the ruling party and can decide on its own over sharing the river waters from Yamuna and Ganges. Why Bhagwant Mann was overzealous and eager to resolve the issue on behalf of Haryana. It appears as if Bhagwant Mann was under pressure from his political mentor Arvind Kejriwal who hailed from the neighboring state and wanted the Punjab chief minister to go soft on the issue ”, said Bajwa.