The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee Chief, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and senior members of Punjab Congress took part in a march to the Governor’s office to hand over a memorandum to the latter, demanding him to take a stand for Punjab against the construction of SYL Canal.
Huge number of supporters joined the march, coming forward to fight against any decision that would lead to the construction of the Satluj Yamuna Link Canal. Those in attendance listened to the leading members of the Congress Party before moving towards the Governor’s office.
Partap Singh Bajwa, Leader of the Opposition warned that even though he respected the decision of the people of Punjab to vote for ‘badlaav’, this ‘badlaav’ would cost Punjab a lot. Bajwa stated that the current AAP government had a number of flaws, the most harmful for Punjab being AAP’s inexperience to handle power. He said that this inexperience was visible in every decision taken by the AAP government.
Raja Warring spoke boldly against the current AAP regime as well as the Central government. During his speech, the Punjab Congress President, while targeting the Central Government said - “The central government has always acted against the interests of Punjab, be it the 3 black farm laws, withholding the release of our RDF fund, insufficient release of funds to our flood victims, and now this issue of constructing the SYL Canal.”
Further commenting on the decision making of the central government, Warring claimed that “the BJP conveniently diverts all difficult decision making to the Supreme Court. On the controversial issue of Ram Janam Bhumi, the BJP conveniently involved the Supreme Court, and now on this delicate issue related to Punjab’s waters, the BJP gave an affidavit to the Apex court that it is beyond them to resolve the issue via arbitration so the court must decide on the same. This Warring claimed is totally against the idea of the federal structure. The Central Government must rise up to their responsibility.
Demanding the Governor to come forward in the interests of the state, the PPCC Chief pleaded that the Governor must write a letter to the Central Government informing them about the actual status of our waters and that we do not have any water to spare. “The state itself uses 80% of water from tubewells, 70% of our water is already given to neighboring states. It is totally unjust to demand any more water from us. Where do we get this water from?” – quipped Warring.
Wanting to raise awareness on the issue at hand, Warring told the masses how Punjab is struggling with regards to the water level of the state. Citing studies, Warring showcased how under current circumstances, the state would reach a desert like stage within the next 15-20 years - “This state is dependent on farming, if the farming ecosystem collapses, the entire state will cease to exist. The water crises must be resolved. Even the BBMB chairman is not from Punjab but from UP. How will our concerns ever be raised?”
“This is all a ploy by the Central Government. After they had to bow down during the farmer’s protest, this is their attempt to weaken Punjab. They want to push the RSS ideology all over India. BJP has resorted to working towards economically weakening Punjab in order to try and take over.” – claimed the PPCC Chief.
Commenting on the issue further, Raja Warring assured those present that he would fight for Punjab till his last breath. “We know Haryana will ask for water, we don’t have any issues with them, we get affected only when our own people give out statements against the interests of our state.
Why didn’t the ruling government give a firm statement in the Supreme Court against the construction of SYL? Rather they resorted to blaming the opposition and farmer unions for not letting them build the canal? In a way the state government has said that they are ready to construct the canal but we, the opposition are stopping them. You need to stand for the people of the state, something you are failing to do so on a daily basis.” - lamented Warring.
The leading members of the Congress Party along with their supporters marched towards the Governor’s office but were stopped by the Chandigarh police midway with water cannons. The leadership of Punjab Congress protested valiantly but were detained by the Chandigarh Police at the Sector 17 Police Station. Amarinder Singh Raja Warring thanked all those who came in support of the party’s struggle and promised to continue his effort against all those working against Punjab.