AAP leader Sanjay Singh addresses a dharna at Kapoori village on Friday. Tribune photo: Rajesh Sachar

Tribune News Service

Kapoori (patiala), November 11

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today started a dharna in the district’s Kapoori village against the Supreme Court verdict invalidating the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act. The party will start a relay fast tomorrow.Sanjay Singh, incharge, political affairs, Punjab; Jarnail Singh, joint in-charge; Gurpreet Singh Waraich, Punjab convener; and other leaders, including HS Phoolka, Sukhpal Khaira and Kanwar Sandhu, reached the protest site.Late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had laid the foundation stone of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal at Kapoori village on April 8, 1982.The AAP leadership targeted both the SAD-BJP combine and the Congress for their hypocrisy. Sanjay Singh said Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh was the biggest traitor of Punjab and his resignation from Lok Sabha was eyewash.“Capt Amarinder had welcomed a proposal for the SYL canal decades ago. He even accompanied Indira Gandhi when she laid the foundation stone. Now, he is raising a hue and cry about saving Punjab waters. If he is serious about Punjab, why didn’t he raise his voice then?” he added.Jarnail Singh hit out at Capt Amarinder for resigning as MP. “He should have fought for Punjab waters in Parliament as the final decision will be taken there,” he said.Gurpreet Waraich said, “If AAP comes to power, it will fight a do-and-die battle for Punjab waters.”

Jaitley meets Governor in ChandigarhChandigarh: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley paid an unannounced visit to the residence of Punjab Governor VP Badnore here on Friday. A Principal Secretary of the Punjab Government, requesting anonymity, said: “There is speculation that Jaitley was sent by the Centre to sort out the SYL logjam between the neighbouring states.” A senior BJP leader, however, said: “He is here to attend a ceremony preceding the marriage of the grandson of Justice Kuldip Singh (retd).” tnsWork out mutually acceptable pact: CPMNew Delhi: The CPM on Friday asked the Centre to work out a mutually acceptable and beneficial agreement with Punjab and Haryana on the SYL canal. The party politburo said, “The Centre must step in immediately to avoid escalation of tension.” PTIIndependent MLA Babbi quits tooHoshiarpur: Backing PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh’s stand on the SYL issue, Independent MLA from Mukerian Rajneesh Kumar Babbi on Friday handed over his resignation to the Vidhan Sabha Speaker. He said the SC verdict showed that the SAD-BJP government had failed to protect the rights of the people of Punjab. Babbi is the son of former Finance Minister Dr Kewal Krishan. OCPanel to finalise Cong candidates by mid-DecJaipur: The chairman of the Congress screening committee, Ashok Gehlot, said on Friday that the party candidates for the Punjab Assembly poll would most probably be finalised by the middle of next month. “Winnability will be the main criterion while shortlisting the candidates,” Gehlot said. OC

Congress MLA, supporters block Sirhind railway line

Congress MLA Kuljit Singh Nagra (C) and his supporters block the track at the Sirhind railway station on Friday. Tribune Photo

Fatehgarh Sahib, November 11Hundreds of Congress workers led by Fatehgarh Sahib MLA Kuljit Singh Nagra today blocked the Rajpura-Jalandhar railway line passing through Sirhind. They protested against a Supreme Court’s verdict on the SYL canal.Nagra and 41 other Congress MLAs resigned from the Vidhan Sabha yesterday in protest against the order.Nagra and his supporters stopped Jansewa Express (Amritsar-Saharsa, Bihar) train on Sirhind railway track.The train halted for about 30 minutes. Subdivisional Magistrate (SDM), and personnel of Government Railway Police (GRP) and Rapid Action Force (RPF) tried in vain to remove the protesters.The blockade was lifted after SSP Harcharan Singh Bhullar intervened. — TNS

SYL verdict divides Cong, BJP in 2 states

Capt Abhimanyu, Punjab BJP co-in charge

Pradeep Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 11

The Supreme Court decision on the SYL canal has divided the BJP and the Congress in Haryana and Punjab with respective state units taking diametrically opposite stands on the issue.In fact, different stands of these parties in two neighbouring states portend ill for them in the run-up to the Assembly elections in Punjab where stakes are high for both the Congress and the BJP, the junior partner in the SAD-BJP alliance.While the Haryana Congress wanted Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to uphold the Constitution and implement the SC judgment in ‘letter and spirit’, its Punjab counterpart is up in arms against the apex court decision with PCC chief and Amritsar MP Capt Amarinder Singh and all Congress MLAs resigning from their posts against the decision.The situation in the ruling BJP is no different with the Punjab BJP throwing in its lot with the alliance partner SAD on the issue while the BJP in Haryana had termed it a victory for the state residents.AICC Communications in charge and Kaithal MLA Randeep Surjewala sees no contradiction in the Congress stand on the issue claiming that in a democratic setup individuals were free to take a particular stand keeping in view the interests of their respective state.Haryana Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu, who is also co-in charge of the BJP’s Punjab Affairs, also parried question on the SYL canal issue saying that “he would keep visiting Punjab to prepare party for elections.” “I will not speak about SYL canal, but discuss only election-related issues in Punjab,” he quipped.Meanwhile, the INLD and the Congress will hold their meetings in Chandigarh on November 14 to chalk out future course of action on the SYL canal issue.

Govt suspends bus services on several routes to Punjab

Chandigarh, November 11

Fearing possible law and order problems after the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue, the Haryana Transport Department today suspended services to several destinations in Punjab as a “precautionary measure”.Services were suspended after the department issued directions to all bus depots in the state to take necessary steps after assessing the situation for safety of their buses.Bus services remained suspended on several routes, including those to Ludhiana and Katra in Jammu and Kashmir, Transport Department officials said.Gautam, a trader at the Ambala bus stand, said: “I have been waiting here for the past nearly an hour, but I didn’t get any Haryana Roadways bus. I need to reach Ludhiana. A couple of private buses have arrived, but they take a lot of extra time due to their extra stoppages and that is why, I prefer the Haryana Roadways bus.”General Manager, Roadways, Kuldheer Singh said the buses that used to go to Punjab were being sent to Kapal Mochan fair in Yamunanagar.Bus services were suspended from Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, Yamunanagar, Kaithal and Ambala depots, officials said.”The decision to suspend bus services on routes to Punjab was taken yesterday,” an official posted at the Ambala Roadways Depot said. However, officials said bus services on some routes to Punjab were restored in the evening. There were no reports of any damage to buses, they said.Meanwhile, PEPSU Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) at Patiala in Punjab said their bus operations on Haryana routes remained normal. “No bus service (to Haryana) was suspended,” PRTC Managing Director Ravinder Singh said. — PTI & TNS

It will change fortune of south Haryana: CM

Manohar Lal Khattar

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Ateli (Mahendragarh), November 11

Giving credit of the Supreme Court judgment in the SYL canal case to his own government, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said the verdict would directly benefit people of south Haryana as they would be able to get adequate canal water for agriculture.Khattar was addressing a gathering in Ateli Mandi of the district today. Greeting the people of south Haryana, Khattar said the judgment would turn out to be instrumental in changing the fortune of south Haryana in terms of development.“Political game was being played on the SYL canal issue for decades, but the BJP immediately after coming to power in Haryana not only took up the issue seriously but also presented the state’s view before the court effectively, leading to judgment in favour of Haryana,” said the CM.The Chief Minister maintained that the state government had already initiated the work of upgrading the irrigation system with a cost of Rs 2,000 crore in south Haryana so that the region could immediately get the SYL canal waters.Speaking on a demand raised by Deputy Speaker Santosh Yadav, for a special project to provide canal-based potable water in 60 villages of the region, the Chief Minister said the problem would be resolved on priority by preparing a mechanism in this regard.On demonetisation of Rs 500 and 1,000 notes, Khattar said common man was delighted by this bold step but those who had amassed black money through illegal means were having sleepless night ever since the scrapping of the currency.Earlier, the CM laid foundation stones of ITI building at Sujapur, railway over bridge on the Ateli-Bahrod and community centre at Sehlang village.The CM also announced an auditorium in Government College and Kisan Bhawan in Ateli, multi-skill centre at Fatni village, health centre, Panchayat Bhawan and aangwari centre in Prithipur village and construction of road from Bazad to Ganihar.

Political and legal aspects of water dispute

NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH: The war over water in Punjab is generally viewed from the Akali-Congress perspective. But the catch is in its legal nuances — and the Aam Aadmi Party’s bid for equity in the emerging emotive space.

HT FILE PHOTOTo identify with the popular rage water-sharing arouses in the agrarian state, the Congress has taken the path of renunciation and the Akalis of defiance.

“As AAP has no baggage from history in the state, it can draw no political advantage from the issue inherited from history,” argued Chandigarh-based political scientist Pramod Kumar. In contrast, the two traditional rivals have enough arrows to draw from history’s quiver; the water-sharing dispute between Punjab and Haryana having festered since the reorganisation of states in 1966.

To identify with the popular rage water-sharing arouses in the agrarian state, the Congress has taken the path of renunciation and the Akalis of defiance. Capt Amarinder Singh resigned from the Amristar seat he had in the Lok Sabha while his party legislators quit the state assembly. The Akalis under chief minister PS Badal refused to accept the view the Supreme Court tendered in response to the 2004 presidential reference.

Amarinder and Badal cancel each other out in terms of political dividend: the law declared unconstitutional was passed when Amarinder was CM; Badal refuses to accept the court’s view on the law bequeathed by his predecessor and political rival

Struggling for stakes in the ongoing tussle, AAP has chosen to replicate the Akali protests of yore at Kapoori in Patiala. The venue is significant. It was there that Indira Gandhi inaugurated the construction of the SYL canal in 1982, triggering the Akalis’ “Kapoori Morcha” against the canal that’s still incomplete.

There’s intense speculation that the Akali defiance of the court may push it to President’s Rule. But a central minister told me the CM’s refusal to accept the court’s advice to the President under Article 143 does not amount to its contempt.

To that, the Congress’s Kapil Sibal averred: Badal might adopt a political stance, but the court’s view holding the Punjab law “unconstitutional” is binding on the Centre. “Wasn’t it the Centre that made the reference to the court?” he asked.

The constitutional position, as explained by senior advocate KN Bhat, is as follows: The court’s reply to a presidential reference isn’t binding the way its judgments are. Theoretically, that’s the position. “In practice, it gets the primacy it deserves as a view expressed by the highest court,” he said.

The remedy available to Haryana in the face of Punjab’s intransigence was to have the dispute — to which states like Rajasthan and Delhi are also a party — referred to a tribunal set up under Article 262 of the Constitution. The said article mandates that inter-state water disputes cannot be settled by courts and have to be referred to tribunals.

There’s scope therefore to further delay the protracted dispute to which there can be no easy resolutions in election time. Like it took the court 12 years to respond to the reference made in 2004 — after Punjab unilaterally blocked SYL construction and scrapped water agreements with other states.

Kejriwal fighting shy of taking pro-Punjab stand

CHANDIGARH: The silence of the otherwise vitriolic national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on the contentious issue of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal is deafening.

While his party leaders in Punjab have jumped into the fray launching an anti-SYL agitation at Kapuri village in Patiala on Friday afternoon, the AAP supremo, who belongs to Haryana, is fighting shy of taking a pro-Punjab stand on the water issue in which Delhi state is also a party.

No wonder Kejriwal, who is caught in a bind, has not expressed his own view on the matter, apart from a series of retweets on the subject on Thursday. Having taken note of it, leaders of rival parties are taking potshots at him. State Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh, who resigned from the Lok Sabha within minutes of the Supreme Court verdict, has asked Kejriwal to make his stand clear on the issue.

SAD leaders mocked at AAP supremo for his “shifting” stand on the issue. He first spoke in favour of Punjab saying that the state has no water to spare for anyone. Then in April, the Delhi government, through its Jal Board, filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court favouring Haryana, opposing Punjab’s claim on the river waters. To avoid a political backlash, Kejriwal later sent the Jal Board counsel packing while assuring Punjabis that his government would file a fresh affidavit in the court. The new affidavit, however, said that the Delhi government had nothing to do with the dispute between Punjab and Haryana, but supported Punjab’s plea that the Supreme Court should refuse to give its opinion on the Presidential reference.

The clamour for Kejriwal to speak up is only sharpening. His party’s former convener in Punjab Sucha Singh Chhotepur, who is now heading the Apna Punjab Party (APP), too wants an answer from Kejriwal.

Bains brothers, Independent MLAs from Ludhiana, who are part of the Navjot Singh Sidhuled Awaaz-e-Punjab, also made it clear on Thursday that there will be no tie-up with Kejriwal till he supports Punjab on the canal issue. Remaining in the background, Kejriwal, however, has asked his Punjab team to make the most of this opportunity in the run-up to the high-stakes polls.

AAP state leaders held a press conference on Thursday vehemently opposing any move to take up construction of the SYL canal.

Supreme Court lawyer HS Phoolka, AAP candidate from Dakha, even went to the extent of saying that the construction of the canal would begin over his dead body.

Punjab, Haryana AGs differ on applicability of SYL canal verdict

It is not binding on the President to accept it. He can accept, reject or seek a fresh opinion from the SC. ASHOK AGGARWAL, Punjab advocate general This argument was even raised during the hearings. It’s binding (on all parties). There is no escape route. BR MAHAJAN, Haryana advocate general

CHANDIGARH: The advocates general of Punjab and Haryana on Friday expressed divergent views on applicability of the Supreme Court verdict on the Sutlej- Yamuna canal issue.

Talking to reporters, Punjab advocate general Ashok Aggarwal said the reference had been answered by the Supreme Court in its advisory capacity.

“It is not binding on the President to accept it. He can accept, reject or seek a fresh opinion from the Supreme Court on presidential reference answered in a matter,” he said.

Aggarwal, however, could not cite any precedent but said, “There have been very few presidential references made since Independence. I can give details after checking it. But do not remember off hand,” he said.

Aggarwal further said that a team had been formed by the Punjab government, which included him as well, to examine the “opinion”.

“We shall start examining it today (Friday) and may be able to tell our view by tomorrow evening. But all I can say now is that we have more than one options before us,” he said. One apparent reference was of review petition, but he did not elaborate on other options.

A few retired judges of the Supreme Court and the Punjab and Haryana high court and former Punjab advocate general Harbhagwan Singh had told the Hindustan Times on Thursday that presidential reference was binding on the President and could not be rejected.

Haryana advocate general BR Mahajan told reporters that the presidential reference answered by the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court was binding on President or governments. “This argument was even raised during the hearings. It’s binding (on all parties).

There is no escape route,” he said, adding that a petition was pending before the two-judge bench of the Supreme Court on the issue, which would now automatically get revived with this development.

All 42 Cong MLAs quit, party to launch protests tomorrow

CHANDIGARH: All 42 Congress MLAs in Punjab resigned from the membership of the Vidhan Sabha on Friday. In absence of speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal, they handed over the resignation letters to his office staff.

The party also announced statewide protests starting from Sunday (November 13) with a rally at Suian Sarvar village in Abohar area of southwest Punjab.

The resignations were tendered as a mark of protest over Thursday’s adverse Apex Court ruling on Termination of Agreements Act-2004 that had annulled all inter-state agreements related to water-sharing.

Before handing over the resignations, most of the MLAs attended a meeting addressed by Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Capt Amarinder Singh, in which the pros and cons of the move were discussed. Some of the MLAs were of the view that Akali-BJP was holding a special session on November 16 and their absence there may go against the party.

“Our stand is clear, we are with Akali-BJP government in case they do anything in the larger interest of Punjab, though I have no hope from them,” said Amarinder, who had quit his Lok Sabha membership on Thursday, immediately after the Apex Court’s verdict.

The PPCC president said the Akalis have backstabbed the people of Punjab as before the Supreme Court verdict, they promised to make all kinds of “sacrifices” to save the rights of Punjab. “Harsimrat Kaur Badal (Akali MP and Union minister) should have resigned if Akalis are really concerned about the state,” he said.

On the choice of Abohar for protest, Amarinder said: “This area will become a desert in case water flows into Haryana through the SYL canal.”

He said the Congress on coming to power will bring in laws to finish the matter once and for all. “I am consulting legal experts to find a way out,” he said. Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Charanjeet Singh Channi, Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa and other senior leaders of the party were also present. DELEGATION TO MEET PRESIDENT

Amarinder said that he will lead a party delegation to meet President Pranab Mukherjee on November 16. “I will tell the President that in case water flows into the SYL canal, it will lead to a serious law-andorder problem. I am sure the President understands the issue and will take a stand keeping in view the concerns of Punjab,” he said. DON’T DRAG OUR HIGH COMMAND: AMBIKA

“Don’t drag our high command, it’s the fight of Punjab Congress,” state Congress’ campaign committee chairperson Ambika Soni told mediapersons. She was replying to a query that if the Congress says injustice has been done to Punjab, why the party high command was not supporting the state’s cause.

On the party’s plan at national level, she said PCC president has asked all party MPs from Punjab to voice Punjab’s concerns in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. JAKHAR TAKES A JIBE AT AKALIS

On Akali Dal rally at Moga on December 8, coinciding with the birthday of Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal, senior Congress leader Sunil Jakhar said, “Should they celebrate CM’s birthday or mourn the Supreme Court decision against Punjab?”