The Hindu : Put pressure on Centre to complete SYL canal: Hooda

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 16, 2003

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Other States - Haryana

Put pressure on Centre to complete SYL canal: Hooda

By Our Special Correspondent

CHANDIGARH MARCH 15. The Leader of the Opposition in the Haryana Assembly and senior Congress leader, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, today welcomed the suggestion of his party colleague, Mange Ram Gupta, that all 90 MLAs and MPs from the State should resign en masse to put pressure on the Centre to complete the remaining portion of the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal at the earliest.

He, however, reiterated that the Congress would launch a `jal yudh' (war for water) and block access to Delhi in case the Centre did not "shake off its lethargy."

Participating in a `Meet the Press' programme at the Press Club here, Mr. Hooda said that there was "complete unity" in the Congress and he had "no differences'' with the former Chief Minister and PCC president, Bhajan Lal. Replying to a question, he said that both he and Mr. Lal were performing their roles as assigned by the party high command.

The focus of Mr. Hooda's speech was on the "dictatorial suppression of the voice of the Opposition MLAs'' in the just-concluded Budget session of the Haryana Assembly. He charged that the Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala, had prompted the Speaker time and again not to allow the Opposition MLAs to speak on important issues. It was tragic that out of the 16 calling-attention adjournment motions and cut motions, only one had been admitted.

He also criticised the demand of the ruling INLD MLAs that the Congress should have pressured the Punjab Chief Minister through the good offices of the party chief, Sonia Gandhi, to construct the remaining portion of the SYL canal in Punjab. Rather Mr. Chautala should have filed a contempt petition against the Punjab Chief Minister for not honouring the Supreme Court's verdict on the issue, he added.

Mr. Hooda criticised all the former Chief Ministers, including Mr. Chautala, Bansi Lal and Bhajan Lal, for taking credit for the SYL canal. He said it was shocking that both the Vajpayee and Chautala regimes had earmarked only Rs.1 crore each in their respective budgets for the SYL canal. This indicated the seriousness of their "resolve'' to complete the SYL canal in the next financial year.

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Put pressure on Centre to complete SYL canal: Hooda