Chandigarh row: Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar says issue 'should be resolved together'

As the feud between Haryana and Punjab over Chandigarh continues, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Monday that the problem should be settled by meeting together and that it cannot be passed unilaterally in the Assembly.

"The issue of Chandigarh should be settled by sitting together; it is not something that can be passed unilaterally in the Assembly," CM Khattar was quoted by ANI as saying.

"They (AAP) have only been in office for four days and are already raising these divisive topics," the Haryana CM added, implying that there must be a secret agenda at work.

Haryana declared yesterday that a day-long special session of the Vidhan Sabha will be held on April 5 in the wake of the Punjab Assembly's unanimous resolution to stake claim to Chandigarh.

Haryana Chief Minister Khattar told reporters that the people of Punjab "will see their agenda." 

"We will not let it reach its goal. Chandigarh was, is, & will be the capital of Haryana & Punjab," he asserted.

The Haryana Chief Minister presided over a state Cabinet meeting on Sunday. According to an official statement, the meeting decided to hold a special session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha on April 5 at 11 a.m. It was also said that a letter would be issued to the Governor and Speaker in this regard. 

"If they want to do something like this, they should first take the Satluj Yamuna Link Canal (SYL) issue to the Supreme Court. Haryana was not handed the Hindi-speaking territories, which caused the rest of the issues to be delayed. They should state that they are willing to provide Haryana Hindi-speaking areas," Khattar said adding that Chandigarh will always continue to be the capital of both Punjab and Haryana. 

“The AAP is a dougali (double standard) party…I feel they are doing so (moving the resolution on Chandigarh's transfer) on someone else's command. The people of Punjab will soon understand (the reality of) such a party that functions in others' direction,” the Haryana CM stated.

He went on to say that the Punjab Reorganization Act, passed in 1966, gave birth to Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Chandigarh.

Notably. the Punjab Assembly had on April 1, unanimously passed a resolution introduced by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann requesting the Center to transfer Chandigarh to Punjab.

(With inputs from ANI/PTI, Image: @mlkhattar/Twitter)