CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Chief Minister, Beant Singh, last week, claimed that Chandigarh would be transferred to the state in the near future, In an informal chat with media persons here, he said parleys with the Center were going on in this regard. However, the Prime Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, is unlikely to make any announcement to this effect during his proposed visit to Punjab next month after the meeting of the Congress Working Committee. He said that Rao would also visit the in Dam and lay the foundation stone of the Shahpur Kandi hydel project downstream, Beant Singh maintained that Chandigarh belonged to Punjab and there was no dispute over this. He said the city. was constructed as the capital of Punjab and 90% of the people residing here were Punjabis, He reiterated that it was only the Congress Party which was serious about the transfer of the city to Punjab.
He ruled out bargaining for the Fazilka and Abohar areas with Haryana in lieu of Chandigarh as these areas were not contiguous with Punjab. He said the status of Fazilka and Abohar already stood determined by the Mathew Commission and there was no dispute about it. He made it clear that the completion of the Satluj Yamuna link canal which is to carry water to Haryana from the Punjab Rivers was not linked with the transfer of Chandigarh.
The Chief Minister denied that he was conniving with the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president, Gureharan Singh Tohra, to delay the election of the general house of this supreme elected body of the Sikhs to manage the shrines. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the government to hold elections to the SGPC by February next.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 30, 1994
