Chandigarh Flashpoint

Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

In one of its first major moves since coming to power, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab led by Bhagwant Mann had passed a resolution in the Assembly seeking the immediate transfer of Chandigarh to the state.

This triggered a war of words between the Punjab and Haryana governments. On April 5, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal declared that his party will “form the government in Haryana in the coming days”.

Are the two moves contradictory?

Punjab and Haryana share a common history and a common capital in Chandigarh. It was on November 1, 1966 that Haryana was carved out of Punjab from the “Hindi speaking areas”. The two states share a lot culture-wise, but have also had their differences. The two main areas of conflict between the two have been the tussle over Chandigarh and the sharing of the waters of the Sutlej through the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal.

Both issues evoke strong responses. So when on April 1, the Punjab Assembly passed the resolution reiterating the state’s claim on Chandigarh, BJP legislators walked out in protest and the Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar immediately criticised it. The Punjab Assembly has passed similar resolutions six times in the past since 1967.

Mann is understood to have brought the resolution as a response to Union home minister Amit Shah’s announcement that the central service rules will apply to the employees of Chandigarh. Mann’s move came from the belief that the Union government was “trying to upset” the balance in the administration of the Union Territory “through many of its recent actions”. However, the BJP gave it its own spin.

Khattar first slammed the move, saying Punjab should not have reignited the issue and immediately brought in the issues of language and sharing of Sutlej waters.

“Rajiv-Longowal Accord was signed 35-36 years ago, as per which it is the capital of both Haryana and Punjab. I said yesterday too that there are several issues related to it…If they want to do something like this, they should first go to the Supreme Court over resolving the Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue. The Hindi-speaking areas were also not given to Haryana, which delayed the rest of the issues. They should say that they are ready to give Hindi-speaking areas to Haryana,” he said.

The issue saw most Haryana leaders speak in one voice. Former Haryana CM and Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda also said that Haryana and Punjab have disputes over three issues – the sharing of waters through the SYL canal, Chandigarh and Hindispeaking regions in Punjab.

“Haryana’s first priority is regarding water. Haryana is not being given the right of water even as the Supreme Court has decided in the interest of Haryana,” he said.

BJP, which has also been facing a backlash from farmers in this region over its handling of the three farm laws, also immediately called a session of the Haryana assembly to put up what they claimed would be a united fight against the AAP government’s demand of Chandigarh.

In the special session on April 5, the Haryana Assembly passed a resolution urging the Union government to not take any steps until all concerns related to the Punjab Reorganisation Act were addressed. The Haryana Assembly also demanded that the Union government take measures for the construction of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal in compliance with the Supreme Court order

Apart from leaders of the BJP and its alliance partner, the Jannayak Janata Party, several leaders of the Congress also criticised the move of the AAP government in Punjab. Congress leader Kiran Choudhary said it was unfortunate that the new government in Punjab instead of meeting its commitments was indulging in political posturing. She questioned why the Mann government was not looking at issues of unemployment and poverty with the seriousness they deserve.

Indian National Lok Dal leader Abhay Chautala demanded that the SYL issue be pursued in all seriousness. He also accused Khattar and previous CM Hooda of not taking up the issue of the Bhakra Beas Management Board with the Prime Minister.

The Haryana Assembly resolution has put Aam Aadmi Party in a spot. Though AAP was not able to make much impact in the 2019 assembly elections in Haryana – getting a mere 0.48% of the votes polled – the party wants to gain a stronger foothold in the state. For now, the Punjab resolution appears to have affected its prospects.

Meanwhile, Kejriwal tried to do some damage control by referring to how he was born in Bhiwani district of Haryana while issuing a statement on former state Congress president Ashok Tanwar joining AAP.