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Amritsar, April 8 – Punjab Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today while castigating Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for directing its counsel to side with Haryana on the Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue in the Supreme Court recently, said Kejriwal should now apologise to the farmers of Punjab for leading them on to believe that he supported their cause.
In a statement here, Mr Badal said during a hearing in the Supreme Court recently the Haryana government’s counsel had claimed that the Punjab government did not have any legislative competence to come out with a law to terminate the water sharing agreements. He said immediately afterwards when the court asked the Delhi government’s counsel to state his stand on the issue, the counsel said he was in agreement with the view of the Haryana government and that the Punjab Act had set a bad precedent.
Mr Badal said this proved that the AAP government in Delhi was aligning against Punjab on the issue of SYL canal. He said by refusing to state its position and agreeing with everything the Haryana counsel had stated the AAP government had proved that it had adopted the Haryana government’s view point and would now take an anti Punjab stand on the SYL issue in the Supreme Court.
Describing this as an act of betrayal, the Deputy chief minister said it was especially more galling because the Delhi chief minister had during a visit to Punjab during the height of the SYL controversy supported Punjab’s stand and even averred that Punjab did not have any water to spare. “However such is Mr Kejriwal’s nature that immediately after reaching Delhi he contradicted his own statement and started dancing to the tune of Haryana by saying there should not be any politics on water which was needed by every State”.
Asking the Delhi chief minister to explain as to who was playing politics, Mr Badal said “isn’t it politics to say one thing in Punjab and the diametrically opposite in Delhi? Isn’t it politics to pay lip service to the cause of Punjab farmers but to take a stand in favour of Haryana in the Supreme Court”?
The Deputy chief minister said with the Delhi government clearing its stand on the issue of the SYL canal in the apex court once and for all now it was time for the Punjab AAP leadership to clear its stand as to where it stood on this issue. Is it with its party Convenor Arvind Kejriwal who has taken an anti Punjab stand on this issue or is it with the farmers of Punjab? The people deserve an answer”, he added.
Mr Badal while referring to Kejriwal said there was nothing wrong in having love for ones native State (Haryana) or ones adopted one (Delhi) but one should be open about it and not adopt cloak and dagger tactics to befool the people. “What was the mistake of the simple farmers whom Kejriwal befooled into believing that he supported them? Shouldn’t he apologise to them now?
The Deputy CM said compared this tale of flip flops, betrayal and back stabbing by the Delhi CM with the clear stand taken by Punjab chief minister S Parkash Singh Badal on the SYL issue to safeguard the interests of the farmers of Punjab. He said the chief minister had moved a resolution to pass a bill whereby the order acquiring the land for the construction of the canal was set aside and land was returned to the farmers. He said besides the chief minister tabled another resolution expressing the State assembly’s intention to not allow the SYL canal to be constructed at any cost.
“Even now we are clear. We will not let a drop of water flow from the SYL canal into Haryana. We are ready for any sacrifice to keep our word. We will never backstab the farmers of Punjab like AAP and Kejriwal has done”, Mr Badal added.
