Come clean on SYL, Captain Amarinder Asks Arvind Kejriwal
Chandigarh: Punjab Congress President Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday challenged AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal to clarify his stand on the SYL issue in the wake of the Supreme Court verdict. Addressing the media here, Captain Amarinder demanded to know whether Kejriwal would allow the water from Punjab to be diverted to Haryana and Delhi, or will stand by the people of Punjab in their hour of need. “The people of Punjab demand an answer from you,” Captain Amarinder told Kejriwal, asking him to come clean on the matter and stop playing games in order to promote his vested political interests. Given the fact that he hails from Haryana and is the Chief Minister of Delhi, Kejriwal will never support Punjab on the issue of SYL, said Captain Amarinder, pointing out that the Kejriwal government had, in fact, filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court supporting Haryana in the matter. But with an eye on the Punjab elections, which Kejriwal is desperate to win, his government in Delhi had later gone back on its stand, claiming the affidavit to have been a case of technical error and even firing its lawyer for the same, the Punjab Congress president pointed out. Pointing to his contradictory statements in the past on the SYL issue, Captain Amarinder said Kejriwal had, time and again, exposed his duplicity when it came to issues of concern to the people of Punjab. The Delhi chief minister’s flip flop on SYL clearly indicates his lack of sincerity towards the interests of Punjab but, with Assembly polls just around the corner, he is unable to openly oppose the state’s claim to Sutlej water, the PPCC president added. It’s time he takes a clear and categorical stand in the matter, said the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief, asserting that the AAP national convenor could not continue to befool the people of Punjab with his misleading statements. While taking any stand is his prerogative, Kejriwal should remember that the dual games he is perpetually trying to play on all critical issues won’t be accepted by the people. “The people of Punjab, in particular, have seen through his attempts to indulge dirty political games at their cost,” Captain Amarinder added. Captain Amarinder pointed out that, during his Punjab visit, Kejriwal had categorically said that SYL canal should not be completed, but after returning to Delhi, had conveniently and shamelessly changed his tune to declare that there should be no politics over water. Not only had Kejriwal shown total lack of consistency in his stand on the SYL issue but he had actually gone as far as to try and take the people of Punjab, for whom this was a matter of life and death, on a ride, said Captain Amarinder. This, said Captain Amarinder, was typical of Kejriwal’s behaviour and his propensity to lie, at the drop of his hat, on critical issues in order to take political mileage. The Punjab Congress president pointed out that the AAP leader had also failed to clarify his stand on other important issues pending between Punjab and Haryana, such as transfer of Chandigarh and Punjabi speaking areas. But the people of Punjab, said Captain Amarinder, were not going to tolerate such antics and the sooner Kejriwal realized it the better for him.
