CHANDIGARH: Days after the Punjab Assembly passed a resolution seeking immediate transfer of the Union Territory of Chandigarh to the AAP-ruled state, senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday said they are ready to make any sacrifice to protect Haryana's interests.
Chandigarh is the joint capital of Haryana and Punjab.
Hooda, a former chief minister of Haryana, said that Chandigarh is a part of Haryana and will remain so, terming the resolution by the Bhagwant Mann government in Punjab a political "jumla".
"No one will be allowed to harm Haryana's interests. We are ready to make any sacrifice to protect the state's interests," he said.
Talking to reporters in Rohtak, Hooda, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the Haryana Assembly, said that all political parties will have to show solidarity in the interest of the state and they should clarify their stand on this issue.
The Manohar Lat Khattar-led Haryana government has summoned a special session of the state assembly here on April 5 to discuss the issue.
"There are three issues between Haryana and Punjab, including control over the capital, Hindi speaking areas and the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal," Hooda said.
He said he has called a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party in Delhi on Monday to discuss these issues ahead of the special session of the state assembly, and urged the Haryana government to call an all-party meeting to discuss the issue.
The Punjab government's move on April 1 to bring in a resolution in the state Assembly came in the wake of the Centre's announcement that the central service rules will apply to the employees of the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
Besides the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Punjab unit of the Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had slammed the Centre's decision, claiming that it goes against the Punjab Reorganisation Act.