Chandigarh row: Municipal Corporation to hold key meet amid Punjab-Haryana squabble

Amid Punjab and Haryana passing contrary resolutions over the status of Chandigarh, the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation will hold a special House meeting on Thursday. The House was convened based on a letter sent by BJP councillors to Mayor Sarabjit Kaur which asserted that the Union Territory of Chandigarh is an individual entity and no state has exclusive right over it. As per sources, a resolution might be introduced in the Municipal Corporation in this regard. Interestingly, AAP is the single-largest party in the MC with 14 seats followed by BJP and Congress which have 13 and 7 seats respectively. 

Punjab stakes claim over Chandigarh

On April 1, the Punjab Assembly unanimously passed a resolution calling upon the Union government to immediately transfer Chandigarh to the state. During the one-day special session of the state Assembly, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann moved this resolution which was backed by all AAP, Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal and BSP MLAs. Alleging that they were not allowed to complete their points raising objection to this resolution, BJP MLAs including the party's state unit president Ashwani Sharma staged a walkout before the voting. 

The resolution read, "Chandigarh city was created as the capital of Punjab. In all past precedents, whenever a state has been divided, the capital remains with the parent state. Punjab, therefore, has been laying its claim for complete transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab. In the past, this House has passed a number of resolutions urging Central government to transfer Chandigarh to Punjab. For maintaining harmony and taking the sentiments of people into account, this house once again recommends to the state government to raise the matter with the Central government to immediately transfer Chandigarh to Punjab."

The latest resolution in the Punjab Assembly was triggered by the Centre's move to align the service conditions of all employees of the Union Territory of Chandigarh with the Central Civil Services. Two days earlier, the Haryana Assembly passed a resolution opposing Punjab's claim over Chandigarh. Moreover, it urged the Centre to not take any steps that would disturb the existing balance between the two states and maintain harmony till all the issues emanating from the reorganization of Punjab are settled.