DW BUREAU / chandigarh AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Gupta on Tuesday said water from the SYL canal will reach Haryana's fields if his party comes to power in the state, drawing a sharp reaction from the Punjab Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal. Gupta, who is also the Aam Aadmi Party's Haryana affairs incharge, claimed that his party will form the next government in Haryana and said, "In 2025, water will reach every field in Haryana. This is not our promise, but our guarantee." When asked if he means the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal waters too, Gupta replied in the affirmative. "'Bilkul' (absolutely)," he said. Reacting to the statement, the Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) sought clarification over it from the AAP government in Punjab. The SYL canal has been a bone of contention between Punjab and Haryana for several decades. Punjab has been demanding a reassessment of its share of the Ravi-Beas rivers water while Haryana has been seeking completion of the canal to get its share of water. Interacting with reporters in Kurukshetra, Gupta hit out at the Congress and the BJP, saying they don't want to resolve the SYL canal issue so that they could indulge in vote bank politics. Gupta said it has been more than 50 years since Haryana came into existence after the bifurcation of Punjab. "During this period, there have been occasions when Congress-led governments ruled at the Centre, in Punjab and Haryana. Likewise, there have been occasions when BJP governments ruled at the Centre, in Haryana and Punjab," he said. "They do not want to resolve the issue. They want this issue to continue so that they could do vote bank politics on this," Gupta said. Speaking to reporters, Punjab Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira asked state CM Bhagwant Mann and his party leaders to clear their stand on this. Khaira said Punjab does not have any surplus water to spare and urged the Bhagwant Mann government to strongly defend Punjab's stand on the issue. Khaira said the Haryana government is considering filing a contempt of court petition and the state government and its advocate general should strongly defend Punjab's case. He was reacting to reports that Haryana government is considering filing a contempt of court petition. (editor@dailyworld.in)