We want Chandigarh back: Badal

Seeking justice for Punjab, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal Sunday demanded that the central government should return Chandigarh, the joint capital with Haryana, to Punjab.

"Punjab has been a victim of the union government's injustice for long. The time has come when the Modi government must do justice to the state by handing over Chandigarh to it," Badal told the media here on the sidelines of the 65th World Sikh Education Conference.

"Time and again, successive Congress-led governments at the centre have done grave injustice to Punjab by denying it its capital, a legitimate share in river waters and even the Punjabi-speaking areas," Badal said.

"There is barely any example in the country where the parent state has been deprived of its capital ... other than Punjab. It is high time the union government must do justice by returning back its capital," he said.

"Chandigarh was and will remain an integral part of Punjab."

He underlined that Chandigarh was a "part and parcel" of Punjab and must be returned to it without delay.

Chandigarh, a 114 square km union territory, has been the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana since Haryana was carved out of Punjab Nov 1, 1966. The city is centrally administered while being the joint capital of both states.

Chandigarh was supposed to be transferred to Punjab along with Punjabi-speaking areas while Haryana was to come up with its own capital. But that has not happened in the last nearly five decades.