Khattar asks Congress to rein in Amarinder on SYL issue

Chandigarh, April 24 (IANS) Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday accused the opposition of political gimmicks and said the Congress should prevent Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh from stopping water flow to Haryana through the SYL Canal.

Khattar has been under fire from the opposition first for not arranging a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal (SYL) issue and later for meeting him without taking opposition leaders along.

Khattar said the Congress, including former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, should approach "(party President) Sonia Gandhi and urge her to prevent Amarinder Singh" from acting on his repeated assertion that he would not let the water flow to Haryana.

Taking a strong exception to the "cheap political gimmicks of the opposition", the Chief Minister said that the opposition earlier "criticised me for not meeting the Prime Minister on the vital issues of Sutlej-Yamuna Lank Canal, GST and the issues of farmers".

"Now, when I have discussed all these issues with the Prime Minister, they are accusing me of not taking them along."

He said that "by not trusting the Chief Minister, the opposition has insulted the 2.5 crore people of Haryana".

Questioning the opposition on the controversy over getting waters through the SYL canal, Khattar said: "The Supreme Court has already delivered its verdict in favour of Haryana and another decision is still awaited. Thereafter, no one would be able to stop construction of SYL Canal."

Haryana and Punjab are locked in a bitter battle over water sharing through the SYL Canal. Punjab has claimed that it does not have any water to share with Haryana.