Chandigarh belongs to Punjab, reiterates CM

Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Lambi, August 23

A day after a controversy erupted over a question raised by SAD MP Sher Singh Ghubaya in the Lok Sabha last year, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today clarified that “Chandigarh was, is and will remain an integral part of Punjab”.

On Ghubaya’s question over any proposal of the Centre to establish a new capital or a mini capital at a central place in Punjab, the CM said: “Chalo ohna ne aakh ta (Leave it, he might have asked it).”

Talking to the media on the sidelines of his Sangat Darshan here, Badal said as per the States Reorganisation Act, every parent state had the sole right over its capital city, but grave injustice had been done with Punjab.

“Till Chandigarh is not given to the state, the decades old practice of appointing Punjab Governor as the UT Administrator should continue,” he said.

On AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, the CM said he was a non-performer. “Nothing good can be expected for the state from Kejriwal who has no sympathy with Punjab or its people,” he said. On Congress activists removing government posters from buses, Badal termed it a result of frustration of the Congress.