CHANDIGARH: The Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) attacked AAP government and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday for “forfeiting the rights of Punjab” over the move to allot land in Chandigarh for the new Assembly building of Haryana.
SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal has asked Mann to immediately withdraw his statement on Chandigarh or be ready to face a fullscale agitation on this issue by Punjabis. Badal said Mann had backstabbed Punjabis and marred their aspirations to not only regain Chandigarh, but also the Punjabi-speaking areas left behind in Haryana as well as its river waters.
“The chief minister had himself harmed the interests of the state during a meeting with the chief justice of the Punjab and Haryna High Court in which he demanded a separate piece of land for a high court building of the state. This demand gave Haryana a chance to seek land for a separate Vidhan Sabha in the union territory,’’ he said.
“We will not let this conspiracy succeed at any cost and have called an emergency meeting of the party’s core committee on July 12 to chalk out our plan,’’ Badal added.
The leader of Opposition and Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa also criticised Mann for demanding land for a separate Assembly and High Court on the lines of Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar. “By surrendering our rights to heritage buildings, the CM is ensuring the permanent loss of Chandigarh,’’ he said.
Haryana to get 10 acres for new assembly
CHANDIGARH: The Chandigarh Administration (Union Territory) has agreed to allot a 10-acre site to Haryana government for the construction of a new Assembly building, as Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced on Saturday.
Sources said three sites are under consideration for the proposed Haryana Assembly building — a plot near the railway station light point to IT Park, a site at IT Park and another opposite Kalagram in Manimajra, with all these proposed sites bordering Panchkula in Haryana.