CHANDIGARH: Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former IAS officer Dr Jagmohan Singh Raju claimed that "Punjab has no proof with it that it has any claim on the Union Territory of Chandigarh."
He said that no notification has been issued by the Punjab Government declaring Chandigarh as the capital of Punjab and that no official record is available that corroborates the same.
This legal position has been affirmed by the Punjab Government in response to his RTI application.
Dr Jagmohan Singh Raju said, "The legal reason for this is that Chandigarh has not been a part of Punjab state since November 1, 1966."
Raju said that the root cause of the problem lies in the discriminatory legislation enacted by the Congress Government in 1966.
As an example, he said that in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization enacted by the Congress Government in 2014, it was categorically provided that Hyderabad shall be the common capital for the States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for ten years and thereafter there shall be a new capital for the State of Andhra Pradesh.
"But in the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, the then Congress Government made no provision for capital for the State of Punjab. Instead, the Act says that Chandigarh ceases to be part of Punjab State,’’ he added.
Raju said that on July 25, he had invited Punjab Congress President Amrinder Singh Raja Warring for a public debate, preferably on August 1 but he has run away from this debate.
On April 1, 2022, the Punjab Vidhan Sabha passed a resolution recommending the State Government raise the matter with the Central Government to immediately transfer Chandigarh to Punjab.
However, from information obtained under RTI, it has been found that the Bhagwant Mann Government has just done a mere eyewash by writing a routine letter to the Government of India on April 1, 2022.
No follow-up action, whatsoever, has been taken after April 1, 2022. "Neither, the Chief Minister called for this file again after that day nor any reminder issued,’’ he said.
Raju added, "Surprisingly, so many sessions of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha have taken place after April 1, 2022, but neither the Speaker of the House nor the Chairman of the House Committees have sought any Action Taken Report from the Government."
"Even the 92 MLAs of the ruling AAP Party and the main opposition Congress MLAs have gone completely quiet. This shows that they are hand in glove with each other in betraying the cause of Punjab at the cost of the general public at large,’’ he added.
Raju has once again made a strong demand that Punjab's capital Chandigarh should be given capital status so that the people of the city do not have to suffer more.
"Punjab is the only state in the country wherein the residents of the capital Chandigarh have to suffer serious disadvantages in terms of employment, benefits of state government schemes etc, which are available to other residents of Punjab as a state.,’’ he added.
Raju, a Tamil Nadu cadre IAS officer had taken voluntary retirement from service in 2022 as he was the Additional Chief Secretary and was fielded as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Amritsar (East) assembly constituency in the state assembly elections but he lost.