Phagwara (Pb):
Amid continuing war of words between Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda over the New Chandigarh project, Congress on Wednesday asserted that Chandigarh belonged to Punjab.
Responding to questions at a press conference here after addressing a workers' rally on the third day of his mass contact programme, Punjab PCC president Partap Singh Bajwa stressed that Chandigarh belonged to Punjab as it was carved out of the state.
"It is a norm that capital belonged to the parent state. In case of Chandigarh, it belonged to Punjab which was the parent state out of which the city was carved," he said.
Bajwa's assertion assumed significance after Hooda asked Punjab to let go its claim on Chandigarh if it wanted to name Mullanpur project as New Chandigarh, while Badal had asserted that Chandigarh belonged to Punjab.
Calling the New Chandigarh project a "mere fraud", Bajwa alleged that the Badals were expecting financial windfall from it as they were investing in properties near Mullanpur.
The PCC chief said he will start taking feedback from grass root workers on possibility of seat sharing with secular parties and added, "though the final decision will be taken by the party high command, we will recommend seat-sharing with secular parties."
"We want minimum split of opposition votes in Punjab during the Lok Sabha elections for defeating the SAD-BJP combine," he said.
