Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini, who was in Punjab for the poll promotion campaign of BJP candidate Jiwan Gupta in Ludhiana on Saturday said the AAP government is playing politics over the issues of water and farmers, instead of solving them. Saini launched a sharp attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab, during his campaign in Ludhiana West, accusing it of betraying the teachings of the Sikh gurus by blocking drinking water to Haryana. He said, “The AAP government refused to release Haryana’s rightful share of drinking water from the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB). Punjab is the land of the great Gurus who always taught that no one should be denied water. But today, this government is denying us drinking water. Haryana and Punjab are like brothers, why playing politics in the name of water?” he questioned, terming AAP’s opposition to sharing water as a betrayal of Punjab’s spiritual values.
The Haryana CM also accused AAP of misleading the public on farmers’ issues. “While the Haryana BJP government has provided minimum support price (MSP) for all crops and continues to support farmers with subsidies, the AAP government has used force and lathi charge against farmers. AAP only uses the name of farmers to gain sympathy but does nothing substantial for their welfare,” he said. The controversy started on April 28 when the Haryana government’s demand for additional water from the Bhakra Dam was approved by the BBMB despite opposition from Punjab the Punjab government refused to accept the decision and deployed police at Nangal dam, 13km downstream from Bhakra to stop the additional water release. Later the matter reached the high court which disposed of the matter on May 26, while the fresh water sharing cycle started on May 21.
Haryana Chief Minister Saini also hit out at AAP’s anti-drug campaign, calling them merely involved in a drama to divert attention from the government’s failures. Hesaid these actions are more about grabbing headlines than actual results. Slamming both AAP and Congress, Saini said the people of Punjab were first let down by Congress and now by AAP. He said, for five years Congress fooled the people, and now for the past three and a half years, AAP is doing the same. The Haryana CM then drew comparisons between Punjab and Haryana in terms of central government schemes implementation. He said that under BJP rule since past over a decade, Haryana has successfully implemented schemes like Ayushman Bharat, PM Awas Yojana, PM Krishi Yojana, and Ujjwala Yojana, whereas these benefits are yet to reach the people of Punjab, he made an appeal to the voters of Ludhiana West to give the BJP a chance during present bypoll if they want good governance, and that is what BJP stands for.
Meanwhile, Cabinet minister Harjot Singh Bains slammed the Haryana CM’s remarks and said he compelled the BBMB to divert Punjab waters. “It was a conspiracy to deprive Punjab of its rightful water share, and Haryana Chief Minister had pressured the BBMB to unfairly divert Punjab’s water, and AAP exposed this,” Bains alleged clarifying that under previous governments, Punjab lacked proper canal irrigation coverage saying that under present CM Bhagwant Mann, canal water has reached over 65% of Punjab’s agricultural land and thus Punjab have no extra water to give to other states, Bains alleged that Haryana was trying to usurp water allocated to Punjab, affecting the state’s agriculture and groundwater levels.
While talking to media persons Haryana CM Saini made a sharp attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab, during his campaign in Ludhiana said Congress and AAP jointly staged several protests against me in Haryana too and it is nothing more than a political gimmick. The people of Haryana have completely rejected both Congress and AAP for their cheap political tactics and conspiracies, accusing it of betraying the teachings of the Sikh gurus by denying us drinking water to Haryana, as well as misleading the public on farmers’ issues. Saini said AAP only uses the name of farmers to gain sympathy but doing nothing for their welfare.
