Chandigarh: Even as the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann lashed out at the Opposition for what he held, running away from the open debate held on Wednesday in Ludhiana to discuss the issues of the state, the opposition parties abstaining it alleged the event was nothing but a "maha drama" staged-managed by Mann.
The November-1-open-debate "Main Punjab Bolda Haan" (meaning - I am Punjab speaking) had been a major issue in Punjab ever since Mann dared the opposition parties last month to face him in an open debate on the issues staring at Punjab and the opposition parties tearing into him with a volley of queries over the venue and the format of the event.
On Wednesday, Mann, who was the only leader on the dais held in his address, that the opposition leaders were not able to find even a single thing against him or his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. However, he said that instead of coming here these leaders had preferred to run away by citing frivolous reasons.
He said that it was a well-known fact that the ancestors of these leaders had sown thorns before the Punjab by indulging in this unpardonable crime of constructing the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal. The chief minister said that everyone knew that former Union minister Balram Jakhar (father of BJP chief Sunil Jakhar) along with Capt Amarinder Singh accompanied the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to perform the groundbreaking ceremony of SYL canal at Kapuri. Similarly, he said that former chief minister of Haryana, Devi Lal had hailed his then counterpart in Punjab Parkash Singh Badal for allowing the survey of this canal.
Event, a 'maha drama': Congress
Terming the much-hyped debate a ``Maha-Drama’’, senior Congress leader and the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Partap Singh Bajwa said that the AAP government once again demonstrated its insincerity over the loot of Punjab’s river waters.
Bajwa said that a night before the debate, the Punjab CM through his X post changed the topic of the debate from the SYL canal to four issues including drug abuse, growing gangsterism, and unemployment. The SYL issue was nowhere in that X post, which wasn’t at all justified.
One-man show: SAD
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) also said that Mann had compromised Punjab’s stand on the SYL canal by asserting that Rajasthan and Haryana had complete rights over the state’s river waters, even as it accused him of mouthing blatant lies and wasting Rs 30 crore to conduct a one-man show.
An arrogant monologue: BJP
Terming the chief minister's outburst as the worst lowdown in state's political history, BJP president Sunil Jakhar said that Mann with his pompous attitude had made a mockery of the state's water concern.
By first keeping SYL out of the list of issues, and choosing to speak on SYL, Mann had belittled his own image as a chief minister and the significance of issues being faced by those who voted for him in 2022, Jakhar said pointing out that all CM wanted was to keep every political leader away from debate by hook or crook.
