Har assembly: SYL, Jat issue dominate Guv's address discussion

The row over sharing of the Ravi-Beas waters between Punjab and Haryana and the Jat stir issue dominated the proceedings during discussion on the Governor's Address in the Haryana Assembly here today.
Senior INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala also demanded a judicial inquiry by a sitting Supreme Court judge to probe the incidents of violence during the agitation and added if any member of his party was found involved in any way, strict action should be taken against them.
Chautala also accused the state government of not putting enough pressure on the Centre to stop Punjab from passing the Bill which was against Haryana's interest.

Chautala, who is also the Leader of Opposition, noted BJP was ally of the Punjab government led by Akali Dal and they were in power in Haryana and at the Centre and said, "your party members should have stopped them (the Akalis)".
"Punjab is going to assembly polls which is why you are not putting enough pressure on them (Akalis)," Chautala said.
However, Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu and state BJP President Subhash Barala said Haryana BJP leaders had initiated appropriate steps in this regard, including an appeal to the Governor not to sign the Bill passed by Punjab Assembly.

Punjab Assembly had yesterday passed a bill against construction of contentious Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, sparking an immediate adoption of a resolution by Haryana Assembly condemning the move as "unconstitutional".

Talking to reporters today, Chief Minister Khattar termed the bill as "unconstitutional" and said, "We appeal to the Governor not to sign it".
In the assembly, Abhimanyu also asked Chautala to make clear his party's stand about alliance with Shiromani Akali Dal, to which the INLD leader said they were in alliance in Haryana as well but it did not mean the party would compromise the state's interests.
The minister also reminded him that the lone SAD MLA in Haryana, Balkar Singh, had left the House yesterday, minutes before the resolution against the Punjab Bill was moved.
However, Chautala, who spoke for about 90 minutes, said, Balkar Singh needs to be congratulated as despite being a SAD MLA he had signed a memorandum and accompanied the all-party delegation led by the chief minister which met the Governor on SYL and other issues.

On the Jat agitation issue, Chautala blamed the BJP
government for not effectively handling the situation.
"Had government effectively dealt with the situation, Haryana would not have burned," he said.
Attacking BJP's Kurukshetra MP Raj Kumar Saini for his alleged remarks against the Jat community, Chautala alleged that BJP had given a long rope to its parliamentarian and his statements were aimed at breeding hatred and creating a wedge between Jats and other communities.
Chautala claimed BJP MLA Randhir Kapriwas and some other party leaders had admitted to the government's failure in controlling the situation during the stir.
He alleged that INLD office in Bhiwani and a petrol pump were damaged by BJP workers. "Attempts were also made to break the statue of former deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal," he claimed.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said the figure being quoted of Rs 35,000 crore loss to property during the Jat agitation was incorrect and added that the government had not reported any such figure.
On the recent investor summit held in Gurgaon, Chautala said out of Rs 5.84 lakh crore of promised investment accruing from signing of 357 MoUs for various projects, Rs 4 lakh crore were to come from the real estate sector and these would remain limited to areas like Gurgaon and Faridabad.
He also alleged that one company which had signed MoU worth thousands of crore of rupees was a bank defaulter.