Badal questions Congress over resignations on SYL verdict

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Saturday asked Congress leader Amarinder Singh and his party legislators from Punjab, who quit over the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal dispute with Haryana, as to why other Congress MPs had not resigned to express solidarity with them.

"It's ironical that as polls for the state assembly are due within a few months, all the Congress MLAs have resigned, but MPs have shied away as they have fairly enough time to end their tenure," Badal alleged.

Addressing a public gathering in the Lambi assembly segment, Badal said the resignation were aimed at deriving political benefit rather than safeguarding the interests of the state.

He said it was an open secret that Amarinder Singh was desirous of contesting assembly polls due to which he had resigned from the Lok Sabha on pretext of the Supreme Court verdict on the SYL canal only to mislead people.

Justifying the ruling Akali Dal leaders' decision to not offer resignations, Badal said a special session of the assembly on November 16 would be held to chalk out a strategy to deal with the crisis.

He said instead of raising people's concern, the Congress has deceived them by tendering resignations.

He said they have also sought time from President Pranab Mukherjee so that the entire cabinet could present the case of Punjab for not sharing canal water with Haryana.

Slamming the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Chief Minister termed it a "two-faced" party.

He said the AAP government in Delhi has submitted an affidavit against the state in the Supreme Court in the case relating to the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal water.

To lodge their protest over the verdict, Amarinder Singh and all Congress legislators, including Leader of Opposition Charanjit Singh Channi, submitted their resignations here on Friday.

The Supreme Court has ruled that Punjab has no right to unilaterally terminate the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal water sharing agreement with neighbouring states.

--IANS

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