AAP to file new affidavit in apex court over SYL issue
Clarifying his party’s stand on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) state convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur on Saturday said the AAP supported Punjab’s cause.
Clarifying his party’s stand on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) state convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur on Saturday said the AAP supported Punjab’s cause.
During his visit here, Chhotepur said that owing to a technical error the Delhi government had mistakenly submitted the affidavit in the Supreme Court supporting Haryana. “The AAP will file a rectified affidavit supporting Punjab,” he claimed, adding that the earlier affidavit was prepared by the previous Congress government of Delhi.
The statement by the AAP Punjab convener assumes significance as opposition leaders, including Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, had cornered the AAP in Punjab after party national convener Arvind Kejriwal’s “no politics on water” comment and his support for his native state Haryana.
Chhotepur asked Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to clear his stand on the issue. “The Congress is raising fingers at Kejriwal but Rahul has not spoken a word to support Punjab; he must clear his stand,” he said.
Taking a dig at the Congress for calling the AAP a party of outsiders, he said Amarinder had accepted the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, who is a “foreigner”, whereas Kejriwal is a loyal Indian.
SAD leader joins AAP
Senior SAD leader and former chairman of SBS Nagar District Planning Board, Resham Singh Thiara, who once was close to chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, joined the AAP on Saturday in the presence of Chhotepur.
Thiara was virtually sidelined by the SAD in SBS Nagar after Markfed chairman Jarnail Singh Wahid is being projected as the SAD’s candidate from SBS Nagar for the coming assembly election. He was denied ticket in the 2007 and 2012 assembly elections after he had lost the election on a SAD ticket in the 2002 elections.
Dr Manjit Singh, former chief medical officer of Amritsar, also joined the party.