CHANDIGARH: Senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia today condemned Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) minister Harjot Bains for resorting to a cheap drama at Nangal by locking the Satluj Bhawan even as the AAP government agreed to release additional water to Haryana in the high court.
In a statement here, Mr Bikram Majithia said “it is shocking that on the one hand the government has agreed to release additional water to Haryana and even disclosed that it had only deployed police personnel at Nangal in view of the law and order situation following the Pahalgam attacks and on the other its minister is again going on a meaningless locking spree”.
Terming Harjot Bains as even a bigger drama artist than chief minister Bhagwant Mann, the SAD leader said “the truth is that the AAP government has surrendered Punjab’s water rights in the high court. It is also true that the AAP government has allowed additional water to be allocated to Haryana for the last three years in keeping with AAP Convener’s sentiments on this issue. It only resorted to a drama exercise by calling a special session of the Vidhan Sabha and this is why the government has not challenged the high court’s directive on release of additional water to Haryana in the Supreme Court”.
Majithia said such cheap publicity stunts at a time when the country was in a face off with Pakistan and bombs were falling on the Punjab border would only strengthen the enemy country. “If the AAP government is really worried about the plight of the farmers then it should act firmly. It should take concrete steps to ensure no additional water flows to Haryana besides ensuring the Riparian Principle is enforced and Punjab gets first precedence over its River waters. The government should understand that we do not have a single drop of water to spare and should take appropriate steps to ensure our control over our River waters.