Status of Chandigarh is Punjab's major faultline with political dimensions, issue is not that of central rules for UT employees

 

Mann govt faces first political challenge as Modi government stirs  Punjab’s Chandigarh faultline

Ground Zero

Jagtar Singh

Union Home Minister Amit Shah yesterday sparked one of Punjab’s historical fault-line with his announcement that central service rules would be applicable in this union territory.

The announcement has provoked strong reaction from the non-BJP political parties in this politically  sensitive border state of Punjab  as this amounts to denying this state its legitimate claim over the City Beautiful that was built as its capital but converted to union territory as a temporary arrangement in 1966. This status turned into a deep faultline  in Punjab’s political domain. The issue is not just that of rules for the employees.

Punjab has witnessed several struggles by the Shiromani Akali Dal over the years since then with transfer of Chandigarh being one of the major issues.

Former minister and Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal today rightly raised this issue in the Lok Sabha asserting that the application of central rules to Chandigarh employees was against the spirit of the Punjab Re-organisation Act, 1966. Punjab rules were applicable in Chandigarh so far. Gurjit Singh Aujla, Congress MP from Amritsar, also took it up.

The Aam Aadmi Party government headed by Bhagwant Mann faces this first major challenge in the political domain with this announcement.

Punjab’s claim over Chandigarh has all along been highly emotional issue although this is now more of a notional.

The irony is neither Punjab has forcefully taken up this issue since 1985 nor the government at the centre has expressed any inclination to take a final decision on the status of this City Beautiful. This city over the years has become the hub of growth of this region that is known as the tricity with Punjab on the three sides and Haryana on the fourth.

Punjab also developed a new township named as New Chandigarh during the Akali Dal government headed by Parkash Singh Badal.

The announcement by Shah has further reinforced the perception in Punjab of being discriminated against by the centre.

Discrimination against Punjab used to be one of the themes of Akali Dal’s religio-political discourse for years and at the centre of  its anti-Congress and anti-centre theme.

Now in power at the centre is Bharatiya Janata Party with which Akali Dal was in alliance for more than two decades that ended under pressure from the agrarian struggle commanded by the Punjab farmers.

However, the Akali Dal leadership has not so far equated the present BJP regime with the earlier Congress regime so far although party stalwart Gurcharan Singh Tohra had said as far back as later part of 1998 that there was no difference between the two so far as the Punjab issues were concerned.

All the non-BJP main political parties have now asserted their positions and the issue has been raised in the Lok Sabha.

However, at the political level, it is the AAP government for which this issue poses a major challenge even though at the moment it is more of notional as there is very remote chance of this city being transferred to Punjab. Such a decision could be dictated only by extreme political exigency.

Harsimrat today proposed that the Rajiv-Longowal accord should be ratified in the Lok Sabha to facilitate transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab.

This accord, that was signed in 1985, was tabled in the House at that time.

Parkash Singh Badal and Tohra were the two senior most leaders who had opposed its signing and refused to accompany party president Sant Harchand Singh Longowal to Delhi. However, he had ratified it while applying for ticket in the 1985 Assembly election.

Sant Longowal was shot dead for signing this accord within days on August 20, 1985. This accord ultimately ended up in the dustbin of history.

The Akali Dal, when in power in Punjab and part of the government at the centre, never took up such issues.

The party should share the blame now. The Congress in Punjab was never identified with the interests of this state.

While this situation poses a challenge to Bhagwant Mann government, the opposition parties might like to exploit the situation for their own revival. The Akali Dal has been dumped by the people of Punjab in the Assembly election.

However, now is the time for the political leaders to redeem themselves.

They should now come forward to make sacrifice to protect the interests of Punjab rather than pushing the people towards protests.

A beginning can by made by going on indefinite fast but not like Sant Fateh Singh.