In no mood to relent on the emotive water-sharing issue over the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, the Congress party on Sunday held a rally at the Khuian Sarwar village near Abohar, the tail-end of SYL in Punjab.
Attacking the ruling Akali government, Punjab Congress president Capt. Amarinder Singh dared Akali MLAs to quit the Assembly and face the Congress in the Assembly elections, which, he said, should be conducted in December itself.
“Implementation of the SYL verdict would severely hit farmers and farm labourers. Akalis had 10 years to resolve the issue and battle the case in court effectively but they failed to do anything,” he said, addressing the rally. Capt. Amarinder alleged that the ruling party was only interested in the creation of Punjabi Suba to rule a Sikh-dominated region for their “vested interests.”
He reiterated his demand for the establishment of a new tribunal to assess the quantum of water availability with Punjab, saying it was essential to take further steps on sharing of river water.
The Punjab Congress president said Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal failed to clarify, even three days after the SYL verdict, whether he stood with Punjab on the issue or not.
“His [Mr. Kejriwal’s] silence is deliberate as he has his eyes on the chiefministership of Punjab while also trying desperately to protect his interests in Delhi and Haryana,” he said.
Expressing concern over the plight of farmers, many of whom had committed suicide out of frustration over their failure to meet the aspirations of their families, Capt. Amarinder said the Parkash Singh Badal-led government had plunged the farming community into crisis by adopting “anti-farmer policies.”
Lambasts CentreCapt. Amarinder also came down heavily on the central government, lambasting it for “pushing” the common people on the verge of disaster as a result of its “ill-planned” demonetisation, which, he said, had left thousands of people, mainly the poor and daily wage workers, suffering, while the real culprits of corruption were warned in advance to let them go scot-free.
Senior Congress leader Sunil Jakhar also lashed out at Chief Minister Badal, accusing him of allowing the SYL issue to hang fire till the time of elections.
“The State government allowed the case to go virtually unfought in the court. The entire SYL issue was a premeditated attempt by the Akalis to divert public attention ahead of the Assembly elections,” said Ms. Jakhar.
