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My days numbered, said CM

S P Singh

Chandigarh

PRESSURE build-up was not just expected it, was auto-built into Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's decision to bring before the Assembly the Bill to terminate Ravi-Beas water sharing agreements. But how far could it impact Amarinder's fate as Chief Minister was an issue on which the CM has made his mind clear to his ministerial colleagues. 

Senior ministers of the Government today told The Indian Express that the Chief Minister has explicitly told them that he may have to quit on this issue and that he was prepared for it.  

On the floor of the House yesterday during the debate on the Punjab Termination of Agreements Bill 2004, he said as much: "I have quit earlier too (in 1984 from Parliament). I am ready to quit even now, if that protects Punjab's interests." 

But while his words in the Assembly could be rhetoric, several Congress ministers said that the Chief Minister has set his heart upon extricating Punjab from the tough spot it finds itself in on the SYL issue.  

"He knows if he goes down in this fight, it would only be to come back with a bang. Such is the water polity in the agrarian region where nothing ignites feeling like river waters," said a minister. 

Amarinder is believed to have spoken to AICC top brass and senior Congress leaders on the issue but as far as the Termination of Agreements Bill was concerned, it was a fail accompli for most. "This is Catch 22 for Congress president Sonia Gandhi too. She is keen on the forthcoming Haryana Assembly elections where Punjab's actions can harm the party's prospects, but at the same time the Congress has mended its relations with the Sikh community over the years. With farming largely a Jat Sikh farmer domain, any action against Amarinder will impact what has been achieved," said a minister. 

The development places on queer pitch Congress' Punjab MPs like Ambica Soni, M.S. Gill, Ashwani Kumar and Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder who will now be forced to take a clear stance. 

Akalis said that it was only poetic justice that a Congress CM undid what another Congress CM had done. "In any case, if an Akali CM had done so, the issue would have become politically partisan. And within the Congress, there is no one other than Amarinder who could have done so. For once, Congress will never have to hear Akali taunts on river waters," said a Congress minister.

State BJP backs Act 

PUNJAB BJP's stance on the Act annulling Rav-Beas water sharing agreements is totally different from what its national leadership advocated today in Parliament. BJP president and Lok Sabha MP Avinash Rai Khanna said the state unit has backed the Termination Bill.  

BJP's MLA Tikshan Sood had yesterday not only backed the Termination Bill on the floor of the House but also demanded that the state challenge Section 78 of the Punjab Reorganization Act, 1966.■

July 13, 2004


Also see:

― Govt plans legislation to escape SYL
― Govt mulled tweaking 131-yr-old Act for SYL 
― CM to meet Sorabjee today 
― Punjab annuls all Ravi-Beas pacts...
― SYL: Centre's eyes were wide shut
― How CM's Team Legal found an enabling loophole 
― Experts say Punjab Act dilutes riparian concept 
― Capt plays to the gallery, works the back-channels
― Capt finds solace in Narmada Tribunal's report
― State suggested Presidential Reference
― 'Presidential Reference is good news'
― Capt changes tune
― Amarinder demanded this in '87

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