Haryana calls spl Assembly session on Apr 5
Chandigarh: Days after Punjab passed a resolution demanding immediate transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab, Haryana government on Sunday summoned a special session of the State assembly on April 5. "A decision to summon the one-day session was taken in a meeting of the council of ministers," said an official spokesperson here.
"A decision was taken to summon the special session of the Haryana Assembly on April 5. Several issues will be taken up in the special session, which has been summoned after Punjab brought a resolution," said the spokesperson.
Notably, the resolution was passed by the Punjab Assembly on Friday in the absence of two BJP members who had staged a walkout from the House.
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that Haryana had, has, and will continue to have a right on Chandigarh. He elaborated that the Government stands firmly on this issue and the people of the state are also with them.
He added that it was wrong for the Aam Aadmi Party government to start raising controversial issues within days of coming to power in Punjab.
Khattar was speaking to media persons after laying the foundation stone of various projects under Smart City in Karnal on Sunday.
Though both Haryana and Punjab have a long-simmering dispute over Chandigarh, the row has been revived by Bhagwant Mann government's resolution seeking immediate transfer of the City to his state.
Notably, JC Shah Commission, the first panel appointed to decide the fate of Chandigarh had given the City to Haryana. However, all later accords, including one by former PM Indira Gandhi and the other one, a pact signed by former PM Rajiv Gandhi and Shiromani Akali Dal president Harchand Singh Longowal, had given Chandigarh to Punjab in lieu of some Hindi-speaking areas being transferred to Haryana simultaneously.
Chandigarh was carved out as a new and modern city after Independence to replace Lahore, the capital of pre-partition Punjab, which became part of Pakistan during the partition. The Indian Punjab (the present Haryana was then a part of Punjab), in consultation with the Central Government, approved the area of the foothills of Shivaliks as the site for the new Capital. Chandigarh came into being in 1952 and remained the Capital of Punjab till 1966, the year in which Haryana was carved out as a separate state.
However, at the time of reorganisation of Punjab in 1966 when Haryana was carved out as a separate state, Chandigarh acquired the special status of a Union Territory under the direct control of the Centre despite being the joint capital of both Haryana and Punjab. The properties of Chandigarh were to be divided into 60:40 ratios, with Haryana getting the lesser share.
