The war of words between Punjab and Haryana over the nomenclature of an upcoming township in the vicinity of Chandigarh as “New Chandigarh” by the Punjab government is refusing to die down. Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s on Friday said that Chandigarh belongs to Haryana, as earlier it was a part of Ambala.
Mr Hooda said that “I wonder on what basis they (Punjab) are staking a claim on Chandigarh, as initially Chandigarh was a part of Ambala. They are claiming Chandigarh on the basis of Chandigarh being the capital of the erstwhile Punjab. If that is the basis of their argument, then Lahore and Shimla too have been the capitals of Punjab. Why don’t they stake a claim on Lahore and Shimla also?” Mr Hooda asked. Reacting sharply to the statement of Mr Hooda, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Friday said that before claiming any stake on Chandigarh, Mr Hooda must realise that Punjab being the parent state, has the first and foremost legitimate right over the city as its capital.
Talking to the media persons after laying the foundation stone of Student Centre and Boys Hostel here on Friday at Giani Zail Singh Punjab Technical University Campus, the chief minister categorically said that before unnecessarily raking up this contentious issue time and again just to score brownie points and demonstrating one-upmanship, Mr Hooda must remember that even Haryana had been carved out from Punjab after reorganisation on November 1, 1966, so there was hardly any substance in his claim over Chandigarh. Mr Badal said that the Haryana chief minister should desist from making such hollow statements just to gain cheap popularity in media. He unequivocally said, “Chandigarh is an integral part of Punjab and none other except it could stake claim over it as capital”. Taking a dig at Mr Hooda, Mr Badal said Mr Hooda must understand that sheer claims without any legal sanctity does not hold any ground.