Ahead of Lok Sabha polls, Punjab parties rake up SYL issue to sway voters

Aman Sood

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Patiala, October 8

The state’s political parties are going all out to score some brownie points over the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. Suddenly, the other poll issues, including the drug menace and flood compensation for farmers, have been pushed into the background.

The Congress, SAD, BJP and AAP have joined the chorus of opposing any move to allow the SYL completion. With elections nearing, the issue is likely to hog the limelight as all parties eye “rural vote bank dominated by farmers”.

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The dispute is between two states and not two countries. There has to be a solution. Communities cannot be divided over a matter that does not suit one political party. —A farmer

“We have no excess water. The ground situation has changed in the past over 40 years and there is not even a single drop of water which we will allow to Haryana at the cost of our farmers”, says SAD chief Sukhbir Badal.

The Punjab BJP led by state president Sunil Jakhar held a protest over the issue, accusing the AAP government of failing to safeguard the state’s interest on river waters.

Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa has blamed the government for not defending the case properly in the Supreme Court.

Even farmer unions have opposed any decision to allow the SYL completion, terming it “anti-Punjab”. However, villagers near the Punjab-Haryana border from where the SYL canal passes say: “The dispute is between two states, and not two countries. There has to be a solution. Communities cannot be divided over a matter that does not suit one political party,” a farmer said.

Villagers in Kapoori, where the foundation stone of the canal was laid, said the canal had turned them into enemies and blamed the politicians of the two states.