No land should be given to Haryana for constructing its Assembly building in Chandigarh, the Aam Aadmi Party told Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria on Friday, reported PTI.
“Chandigarh belongs to Punjab and we are not going to give even an inch of land,” Aam Aadmi Party leader and Punjab minister Harpal Singh Cheema said after a delegation from his party met Kataria. “Punjab has right over Chandigarh and we will fight for our right.”
Kataria is the administrator of the Union territory of Chandigarh, which serves as the common capital of both Punjab and Haryana.
While Punjab is governed by the Aam Aadmi Party, Haryana is ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party. Currently, the separate Assemblies of both Punjab and Haryana are housed in the same building complex in Chandigarh.
Cheema’s remarks on Friday come after the Centre reportedly allotted 10 acres of land in Chandigarh to Haryana for the construction of its Assembly building. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party and the Opposition parties in Punjab have criticised the decision.
“We have submitted a memorandum to the governor,” Cheema said, according to the news agency. “We have said that no land should be allotted to Haryana in Chandigarh [for the Vidhan Sabha].”
The minister said that it had been made clear that Haryana would make its capital and Vidhan Sabha when it was carved out as a separate state. Haryana was established as a separate state in 1966.
“For six decades, Haryana failed to have its capital or build its Vidhan Sabha in the state and now they are laying claim on Punjab’s capital,” Cheema said while questioning why Haryana could not build its capital in Panchkula.
“[Panchkula] is barely one kilometre away from the place where they are seeking land for Vidhan Sabha building in Chandigarh,” he added.
At another event on Friday, Haryana Chief Minister and BJP leader Nayab Singh Saini criticised the Aam Aadmi Party and asked it not to indulge in “dirty politics”, PTI reported.
“Chandigarh is part of Haryana and Punjab too,” Saini said. “I want to tell the leaders of Punjab that Haryana is Punjab’s younger brother. Why are they spoiling the brotherhood?” He added: “We have the right over Chandigarh.”
As per reports, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change approved the environmental clearance for land given by the Haryana government to the Chandigarh administration, according to PTI.
This land is being exchanged for a plot to build a second Assembly building in the Union territory.
The Haryana government offered 12 acres of land in Panchkula in return for 10 acres near IT Park Road in Chandigarh.