category Regional, chandigarh, , tags Regional, chandigarh, , DW BUREAU Chandigarh The AAP in Punjab slammed the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal on Saturday for allegedly misleading people on the Sutlej Yamuna Link canal issue and asserted that not a drop of water will be allowed to be shared with any other state. Malvinder Singh Kang, chief spokesperson of the AAP s Punjab unit, said the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue is connected with the sentiments of the people of Punjab. Therefore, the stand of the AAP and the Bhagwant Mann dispensation on this matter is clear that the Punjab government will not allow the SYL canal to be built nor will it give even a single extra drop of Punjab s water to any other state, he stated. The SYL canal was conceptualised for effective allocation of water from the Ravi and the Beas rivers. The project envisages a 214-kilometre canal, of which a 122-kilometre stretch is to be constructed in Punjab and the remaining 92 kilometres in Haryana. Haryana has completed the project in its territory but Punjab, which launched the work in 1982, shelved it subsequently. Speaking on the issue, Kang also lashed out at Sunil Jakhar, the BJP s Punjab unit chief. Kang said Jakhar, when he was in the Congress in 2016, had said it was the prime minister who could sort out the SYL issue. The AAP leader questioned why Jakhar has not asked the prime minister to resolve the issue now. If Jakhar is actually concerned about Punjab, he should protest outside the residence of the prime minister and not the chief minister, Kang said. The BJP on Saturday held a protest over the issue, accusing the AAP government of failing to safeguard the state s interest. Led by Jakhar, several senior party leaders held a protest near the Mann s official residence. Kang also attacked Jakhar for not contradicting Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar who, on Friday, said the Supreme Court s directive had to be followed. The AAP leader also attacked Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and said he should remain silent on the issue. Kang claimed Parkash Singh Badal -- the former Punjab chief minister and Badal s father -- was the first to issue a notification for land acquisition for the SYL canal in 1978. Before making any accusations against Mann, Badal should look at history, Kang said. The BJP and the SAD are trying to break the relationship forged between the farmers of Punjab and Haryana during the movement against the now-repealed farm laws, he said. The BJP is provoking the people in Haryana and the SAD in Punjab on the issue, he alleged. Kang also targeted the Congress, saying in 1980, the then chief minister Darbara Singh had given an affidavit in the Supreme Court that the Punjab government had no objection in sharing water with Haryana and Rajasthan. In 1982, Indira Gandhi, the then prime minister, inaugurated the construction work in the Kapuri village of Patiala, Kang said. (editor dailyworld.in)