New Delhi, July 16
Indian National Lok Dal secretary-general and member of Parliament Ajay Chautala has alleged that the UPA government is not doing enough to implement the Supreme Court verdict on the SYL canal.
In an informal interaction with mediapersons here, he said it was a constitutional obligation of the Centre and Punjab to get the canal constructed.
Maintaining that the Congress was not sincere about the construction of the canal, Mr Ajay Chautala said Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh could not have acted on his own in getting the Punjab Termination of Agreements Bill, 2004, passed in the state assembly.
He said Capt Amarinder Singh, who did not appoint parliamentary secretaries without the approval of the AICC, could not have acted on his own on the SYL issue.
Alleging that the Congress was “befooling the public” on the canal, he claimed that Haryana was not consulted when the Rajiv-Longowal Accord was signed. He said Congress MPs from Haryana had not done enough in Parliament to defend the interests of the state on the SYL issue.
Meanwhile, the Haryana Raksha Vahini chief, Prof Sher Singh, said the UPA government should quit if it did not have the will to implement the Supreme Court orders on the SYL canal.
Mr Sher Singh, who has been a minister in undivided Punjab, said in a statement that the matter should not be delayed and the Centre should take a clear and firm stand.
Referring to the Bill passed by Punjab, Mr Sher Singh said such “unilateral” decisions could lead to chaos. He said coal for thermal plants in Punjab passed through Haryana and the states had to behave responsibly.
