Baseless fear being spread by Opposition: BJP's Chugh on Chandigarh Bill

BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh today said the fear around a proposed Bill on Chandigarh is baseless.

"The fear and confusion being spread by the Opposition regarding Chandigarh is completely baseless. The Home Ministry's proposal is limited only to simplifying the process of law-making by the Centre. There is no change in the governance and administration of Chandigarh, nor will there be any impact on Punjab's traditional relations," he said on X.

Chugh said no final decision has been made on the Bill yet.

"Any decision will be taken only after extensive consultations with all stakeholders, giving the highest priority to the interests of Punjab and Chandigarh. The Central Government has no intention of bringing any Bill in this regard during the Winter Session. An appeal to the public — do not pay attention to rumours. This is an extremely sensitive issue," he said, adding that the BJP and the Modi Government are fully committed to the pride, peace and development of Punjab and Chandigarh.

Meanwhile, the working president of the Punjab unit of BJP, Ashwani Sharma, on Sunday asserted that no Bill on Chandigarh's administration will be discussed in the Winter session of Parliament, accusing the AAP, Congress and Akali Dal of "running a false and misleading propaganda" against his party.

In a statement, Sharma said the "atmosphere of fear" created by the AAP government and other parties was "political drama", adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Central Government have always been "pro-Punjab". "BJP has protected Punjab's rights at every step, whether it is the issue of water, Chandigarh, or any other matter related to the interests of Punjab," he said.

Union Home Ministry on Sunday said it has no intention to bring the proposed Bill on Chandigarh that intends to "simplify the law-making" process for the Centre in the upcoming Winter session of Parliament and asserted that the proposal doesn't aim to change traditional arrangements between Chandigarh and Punjab and Haryana. This came a day after a bulletin of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha listed the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill 2025 among the provisional list of 10 Bills for the upcoming session beginning December 1.

The Bill that proposes to bring Chandigarh under the ambit of Article 240 of the Constitution, which empowers the president to make regulations for the UT and legislate directly, sparked sharp reactions from leaders in Punjab.

Hitting out at the AAP, Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal, BJP leader Sharma said the three parties have no real concern for Punjab, and are building a "false narrative" against the BJP for "political gains".

Sharma said the AAP government has "failed" to control gangsters and illegal mining and has been ineffective in providing compensation to flood victims.

"To divert public attention from all this, they are making baseless allegations against the BJP," the Pathankot MLA said. This "entire drama" proves that the AAP government has made it a habit to shift blame for their failures onto the BJP, he said.

Sharma said issues of water sharing, Chandigarh and Centre-state relations are the result of decades-long "mistakes" committed by the Congress and Akali Dal.

"The problems they could not solve themselves today they want to mislead people again by blaming the BJP. But the old mistakes cannot be covered up anymore," he said.

The Akali Dal was now targeting the BJP only to "save the little political ground it has left", and the Congress was scared as the BJP was emerging as a strong political force in Punjab and was replacing them, Sharma added.

-With PTI