Jaibans Singh
Empty chairs: fault lines in AAP led state government
The river waters dispute in North India has recently been rekindled and has taken an critical turn due to passing of an order by the Supreme Court on 5 October, reprimanding the Punjab government for its failure to construct its side of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, in accordance with the 21-year-old directive of the court. The apex court has ordered the government to facilitate a survey of the present condition of the canal in Punjab. The matter is scheduled for review in January 2024.
The directive of the Supreme Court ignited a political storm in Punjab. All parties of the state, especially the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), unanimously opined that Punjab has no water to spare and share with neighbouring states under the present changed conditions.
A brief summary of the dispute would be in order. On 29 January 1955, the states of Punjab, PEPSU and Rajasthan agreed that out of the estimated 15.85 MAF (million acre-feet) available from the three Punjab rivers, Sutlej, Ravi and Beas, Punjab would get 5.9 MAF (million acre-feet), PEPSU 1.3 MAF, Rajasthan 8 MAF and Jammu and Kashmir 0.65 MAF. With the merger of Punjab and PEPSU in 1956, the total share of Punjab became 7.2 MAF.
The current dispute has its origin in the reorganisation of Punjab in 1966 which led to the creation of the state of Haryana. Haryana claimed 4.8 MAF from the waters from the 7.2 MAF share of Punjab. It was an unfair demand right from the word go , one which Punjab had no obligation to meet it by any riparian principle. However, the Congress party exhibited a partiality towards Haryana and utilised the emergency in 1976 to allocate 3.5 MAF of water to each state while Delhi received the remaining 0.2 MAF. Again in 1980, when the centre, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan were under Congress rule the party, with a smart sleight of hand, ratified the allocation of water to Haryana and cleared the way for construction of the SYL canal. On 8 April 1982, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi formally launched the construction of the SYL canal at Kapoori village of Punjab.
There was a massive agitation in Punjab which caused a disruption in the construction of the canal even though Haryana completed construction on its side. Haryana approached the Supreme Court with a prayer to compel Punjab to stand by its agreement. The Supreme Court, on January 15, 2002, and later on June 4, 2004, passed orders to Punjab to complete the remaining portion of the canal. All Punjab governments since then have expressed a reservation to implement this order.
On 15 March 2016, the Punjab Legislative Assembly unanimously passed the Punjab Satluj Yamuna Link Canal Land (Transfer of Proprietary Rights) Bill, 2016, which paved the way for return of the land that had been acquired for building the canal.
The opposition parties feel that the latest directive of the Supreme Court in the ongoing case is the result of a weak presentation of the case by the AAP led government of Punjab, wherein, the state counsels said that the government is ready to reconstruct the canal but the opposition parties and farmer unions are not allowing it to do so. All opposition parties of the state and the people are now castigating the government for taking this weak stand.
Under pressure from the opposition, the chief minister of Punjab, Bhagwant Mann, on 8 October dared state presidents of the BJP, Congress and SAD to an open debate on the issue and other issues too.
“Brothers-nephews, brother-in-laws, friends, toll plazas, youth, farming, trade, shopkeepers, Gurbani, river water, let us have a live debate on all issues,” Mann posted on the social media platform X, earlier Twitter. He followed this post with a number of other more abrasive ones that caused considerable consternation among the political circles of Punjab.
Mann further declared 1 November that marks the formation of the state under the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 as the day for the debate.
Replying to the challenge, BJP’s Jakhar said: “We are ready for a debate anytime; however, first tell us under what pressure or for which political interests did you compromise on interests of the state on the SYL issue.”
President of the Congress party, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said: “Whenever you are questioned or given an advice, you attempt to distract public attention by raising new issues. It would have been better if you had called the opposition and farmers for discussions on the SYL issue.”
The President of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Sukhbir Badal said, “Bhagwant Mann your challenge is accepted. November 1 is still far away. I am coming to your residence in Chandigarh on October 10…” The party did go to the CMs residence but no audience was given to its representatives including the President.
BJP President, Shri Sunil Jakhar, addressing a press conference
The government went ahead with its plan. It homed in on Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana as the venue for the debate and appointed a government official, who is a personal friend of the chief minister, as a moderator. The government failed to give clarity regarding the agenda. This attempt by the government to dictate all terms was not acceptable to the opposition.
Statements made by the chief minister hinted at his intention to cover only the “historical baggage” of the opposition parties. The opposition wanted to debate the current situation of the state on the premise that the incumbent government had been voted to power only to correct the so-called mistakes made by them and should now do so without going into the past.
Ultimately, it became quite clear that none other than the BJP were willing to participate. BJP President, Sunil Jakhar, while admitting that the debate would be nothing more than a sham, said that he would attend only to “call Bhagwant Mann’s bluff.”
A few days before the debate the government converted Ludhiana into a veritable fortress with a huge deployment of police force. The motive behind such an action was questioned by all parties that felt that an attempt was being made to pressurise them and their cadre. This apart, the government and the organisers failed to reach out to the parties to give them an invite and seat allocation in the hall. Despite these very obvious pressure tactics, the BJP President Sunil Jakhar remained steadfast in his resolve to participate in the debate.
On the eve of the debate, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, in a post of the social media platform X (earlier twitter) gave out his agenda for the debate in which he did not add discussion on the SYL at all. This was the last straw and it compelled even Sunil Jakhar to opt out.
“Not even willing to discuss the SYL issue ? Are you serious Mann Sahib ? Because if you are joking, then the joke is on you. You don’t really expect me to join you and lend credibility to this mockery which belittles the vital issue of Waters of Punjab ? In running away from debating it you have conceded to the charge of having bartered Punjab’s interest in the Supreme Court.” posted Jakhar on X to indicate his unwillingness to participate in the debate.
The manner in which APP manipulated the situation makes it very obvious that the intention was to dissuade the opposition parties from participating. On the day of the debate, there was none other than AAP in the hall.
Huge groups of protestors from different walks of life like farmers, teachers, students etc. reached the venue to lodge their protest against the government. They were arrested and taken away despite Mann having given an open invite to all to participate in the debate. Attempts by others to enter the hall were stalled by the police.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann addressed his own party MLAs and workers in the hall in a monologue. He did not say anything that he had not said earlier which led to questions on the need for such wastage of time, effort and most importantly money of a state being raised.
The event was merely a mindless media circus which did not benefit Punjab in any way. It boomeranged on the chief minister by highlighting the high level of unpopularity that he and his party have managed to garner in their short stint of less than two years in government. The opposition parties have no respect for the chief minister’s word and the people are out on the street with multiple grievances that the government is unwilling to address.
One of the most remarkable aspects of this latest development in the SYL canal dispute was the rare show of unity among all political parties in Punjab. The opposition parties unanimously backed the AAP government’s stance that Punjab cannot spare any additional water for other states. It is very unfortunate that the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has been unable to leverage this unity for the betterment of the state that is reeling under multiple crises. In his inability lies a clear indication of his immaturity and incapacity to efficiently run the government. The fault-lines in policies and functioning of the AAP led government in Punjab stand totally exposed.
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