SYL: CM to lead all-party team to meet Rajnath

Pradeep Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 22

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will head an all-party delegation to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Mach 24 over the Sutlej-Yamuna-Link (SYL) canal.

The timing of the meeting with the Home Minister is important as Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today met Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue.

The heading of the all-party delegation by Khattar to the Home Minister is seen as clever strategy by the BJP to score brownie points over its two political rivals—the INLD and the Congress — in the state.

In the wake of the Supreme Court verdict in November 2016, which held the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004, as “unconstitutional”, there is a rat race among the political parties in Haryana to claim credit on the SYL canal issue.

Sources said written communication had been sent to Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu, Health Minister Anil Vij, state BJP president Subhash Barala, Haryana Congress president Ashok Tanwar, Leader of Congress Legislative Party Kiran Choudhary, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, state INLD president Ashok Arora and Leader of Opposition Abhay Chautala to be part of the delegation.

The others, who have been invited, include state Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Saranjit Singh Sotha, SAD MLA Balkaur Singh, state BSP president Naresh Saaran, BSP MLA Tek Chand Sharma, Independent MLA Jai Parkash and Advocate General Baldev Raj Mahajan.

On February 23, the main Opposition INLD marched into Punjab and undertook at symbolic digging of the SYL canal in an apparent bid to embarrass the ruling BJP at the Centre and in the state.

In fact, the SYL issue raised a lot of dust during the recently-concluded Budget session of the Haryana Assembly with various political parties indulging in blame game.