Cong to raise issue in Parliament
Friday, 11/11/2016
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/cong-to-raise-issue-in-parliament/321618.html
New Delhi : Former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today resigned from his Lok Sabha membership following an adverse Supreme Court verdict in the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal matter.
In a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Amarinder described his resignation as a “mark of protest against the deprivation of the people of Punjab of the much-needed Sutlej waters”.
The Speaker’s office, however, is yet to receive the resignation, which will be accepted only if the Speaker is satisfied that the Amritsar MP has resigned voluntarily and not under duress.
“Normally the resignation has to be in person to the Speaker so that she is satisfied that the same is voluntary. If the resignation is accepted, the Speaker will make such an announcement in the House without mentioning any grounds even if the resigning MP has mentioned these in his letter,” an LS source said.
Amarinder said the Centre and the SAD-BJP-led state government had failed to come to the rescue of Punjab’s people “in time to save them from the sorry plight into which they have been plunged due to the Supreme Court order”.
Other Congress MPs from Punjab (Ravneet Bittu and Santokh Singh Chaudhary in the Lok Sabha; Ambika Soni, Partap Singh Bajwa and SS Dullo in the Rajya Sabha) didn’t resign from their respective memberships. Congress’ Punjab incharge Asha Kumari also said Amarinder had resigned on moral grounds as he was the Chief Minister when the now-nullified Punjab Termination of Agreement Act, 2004, was passed by the Punjab Assembly.
QUOTES
Punjab has been suffering because of the Congress. The Centre should ensure that this time the people of the state are not deprived of their right. The resignations by Congress leaders is a mere drama. —Daljit Singh Cheema, SAD spokesman
The SAD-BJP has failed in presenting the facts convincingly before the apex court. The Congress will go all out to protect the state’s interests. —Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Congress leader
The Congress and the SAD-BJP used the SYL issue for their political revival. When we tried to bring a Bill seeking royalty for Punjab’s waters, we were thrown out of the Vidhan Sabha. —Simarjit Singh Bains, Independent MLA
The amount of water flowing in the state's rivers has already reduced. The SAD and the Congress were not sincere. AAP too is demanding more water for Delhi through the SYL canal. —Sucha Singh Chhotepur, APP Convener
Things have come to such a pass due to the insincerity of successive governments which compromised the interests of the state. Only AAP can save Punjab’s riverwaters. —Sanjay Singh, state AAP incharge
The CM should call an all-party meeting and pressure the Centre to form a committee of experts to assess the water situation in Punjab. We do not have spare water. Any confrontation with Haryana should not be avoided. —Hardev Singh Arshi, CPI leader
Already nearly 80 per cent of Punjab is facing severe water scarcity. We need to put up a strong resistance to the execution of the SYL canal project. —Prof Manjit Singh, Democratic Swaraj Party
The dispute should be resolved on the basis of user principle provided in the Rajiv-Longowal Accord. It guarantees that not a single drop of water should be withdrawn from Punjab. —Charan Singh Virdi, CPM state secretary
