Dr Daljit S Cheema also condemns appointment of Raghav Chadha as Chairman of Advisory Board, saying office of CM has been nullified
Chandigarh: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today said chief minister Bhagwant Mann had sold Punjab’s right on its capital Chandigarh at the instance of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Convener Arvind Kejriwal for petty political gains in Haryana.
In a statement here, the former minister said it was shocking that the chief minister had acted as a rubber stamp and jeopardized Punjab’s right over Chandigarh by asking the union government to allot land to the State for a new Vidhan Sabha and High Court in the union territory when it already had both institutions. “It seems even the chief minister cannot defend the indefensible and this is why he failed to give any answer when questioned as to why he had surrendered Punjab’s rights over Chandigarh to Haryana. It is obvious that Bhagwant Mann is a party to Kejriwal’s game plan to surrender Chandigarh to allow AAP to take political benefit for the same in Haryana ”.
Dr Daljit Cheema said now the stage was being set to sell Punjab’s river waters through the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal with the appointment of Raghav Chadha as the Chairman of the party’s Advisory Board. “This move is tantamount to appointing Chadha as the de-facto chief minister of Punjab who will now officially take all decisions which are otherwise in the purview of the chief minister. The SAD condemns the formation of this Advisory Board which had made the office of the chief minister of the State a rubber stamp”.
Asserting that the current developments were occurring as per the template which had already been disclosed by the SAD earlier, Dr Cheema said “now that the State chief minister has been neutralized and all power has been concentrated in the hands of Kejriwal, the river waters of the State are also in jeopardy. Kejriwal’s stand on SYL is already known to Punjabis. After the sell out on the issue of Punjab’s capital Chandigarh we will witness a sell out on the SYL issue”.
Asking AAP legislators to understand the anti-Punjab conspiracy which was being implemented in Punjab, the SAD leader said “you need to break your silence on both the surrender of Punjab’s right on Chandigarh as well as the formation of an Advisory Board which will nullify the position of an elected chief minister. Punjabis have reposed their overwhelming trust in you. This is why 92 legislators from AAP have been elected to office. It is your responsibility to protect the interests of the State by rising above party lines or Punjabis will never forgive you”
