Hours after Northern Zonal Council (NZC) meeting in Jaipur, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann on Saturday set the cat among the pigeons by demanding a piece of land in Chandigarh from the Centre for a separate Punjab Vidhan Sabha. His demand came after Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar made a similar demand for building a separate state assembly in Chandigarh and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who chaired the meeting, giving the green light for it.
Mann put out a tweet to say that a piece of land in Chandigarh should be given for Punjab’s Vidhan Sabha. He stated that a similar demand for a separate HC for Punjab has been pending for long. Punjab has been staking claim on Chandigarh since the reorganisation of the state in 1966.
ਮੇਰੀ ਕੇਂਦਰ ਸਰਕਾਰ ਨੂੰ ਅਪੀਲ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਹਰਿਆਣਾ ਦੀ ਤਰਜ਼ ਤੇ ਸਾਡੇ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਲਈ ਵੀ ਆਪਣੀ ਵਿਧਾਨ ਸਭਾ ਬਣਾਉਣ ਲਈ ਚੰਡੀਗੜ੍ਹ ਵਿੱਚ ਜ਼ਮੀਨ ਅਲਾਟ ਕੀਤੀ ਜਾਵੇ..ਲੰਮੇ ਸਮੇਂ ਤੋਂ ਮੰਗ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਪੰਜਾਬ -ਹਰਿਆਣਾ ਹਾਈਕੋਰਟ ਨੂੰ ਵੱਖ-ਵੱਖ ਕੀਤਾ ਜਾਵੇ ..ਇਸਦੇ ਲਈ ਵੀ ਕਿਰਪਾ ਕਰਕੇ ਕੇਂਦਰ ਸਰਕਾਰ ਚੰਡੀਗੜ੍ਹ ਵਿੱਚ ਜ਼ਮੀਨ ਮੁਹੱਈਆ ਕਰਵਾਏ ..
— Bhagwant Mann (@BhagwantMann) July 9, 2022
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The Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, had carved out the state of Haryana from undivided Punjab, created the new UT of Chandigarh under the direct control of the Centre, and transferred the hill territories of Punjab to Himachal Pradesh. Chandigarh, identified as the capital of Punjab in The Capital of Punjab (Development and Regulation) Act, 1952, became the common capital of both Punjab and Haryana, and properties were divided between the states in the ratio of 60:40. As a part of this division, a part of unorganised Punjab’s Vidhan Sabha, civil secretariat were also divided between Punjab and Haryana. Since Punjab has been staking claim on Chandigarh and has been demanding that another capital be carved out for Haryana, it automatically stakes claim on its properties also. Mann’s statement is being seen as a dilution of that claim as opposition asked Mann to withdraw the statement.
PPCC chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring opposed the Union home ministry’s move to provide land for construction of Haryana Vidhan Sabha in Chandigarh. He also criticised the Punjab government for supporting the move.
Reacting to the development, Warring asserted that Chandigarh exclusively belonged to Punjab and it is its capital. There is no point in providing land for Haryana Vidhan Sabha in Punjab’s capital, he said, adding that this is in contravention of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, as well as the subsequent Rajiv Longowal Accord that reaffirms Punjab’s exclusive right over Chandigarh.
The PPCC chief asked, “Why does Punjab, in the first place, need to construct another Vidhan Sabha building when there is an iconic building already existing and that belongs to Punjab?” Moreover, he said Haryana has already accepted that it has no right over the existing Vidhan Sabha building in Capital Complex.
The Punjab government with its demand for land to construct a new Vidhan Sabha building has knowingly or unknowingly tried to forfeit its right over the existing building, he added.
Warring said that instead of opposing the Union home ministry’s move to provide land to Haryana within Chandigarh, the AAP government has supported the move and sought land for Punjab also when there is no need for it. “This reveals their ignorance of history and legal rights of Punjab over Chandigarh,” he said.
SAD chief and former deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal also took on Mann and Shah for issuing anti-Punjab statements that compromised the state’s inalienable right on Chandigarh, and for other areas of injustice done to the people of the state. He said, “I am shocked that someone who calls himself the CM of Punjab can issue statements to give up Punjab’s widely acknowledged and inalienable right on its capital. The entire city belongs to Punjab and the CM is begging for a little space on our own land for Vidhan Sabha building. How can Punjab CM speak the language of Haryana? Is Mann really so unaware of the history of his own state?”
Badal said that it seems that a deep conspiracy is at work to rob Punjab of its legitimate rights and claims on crucial issues, including Chandigarh, “and the Punjab CM has become a willing tool in this conspiracy. What a coincidence that Shah, Khattar and Mann are issuing identical statements on Chandigarh at the same time! Would you blame Punjabis for seeing an anti-Punjab conspiracy in these statements?”