Akali Dal calls meeting for decisive response against Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill

Chandigarh: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), once one of the oldest allies of the BJP, on Sunday announced to call an emergency meeting of party’s core committee to plan and formulate a strong and decisive response against the “anti-Punjab” Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, which seeks to include Union Territory of Chandigarh in Article 240.

“I have called an emergency meeting of the core committee of the party at 2 p.m. on Monday at the party head office in Chandigarh,” party President Sukhbir Badal wrote on X.

He assured the people of Punjab that this “anti-Punjab Bill and blatant attack on the federal structure will be fought on every front by the party, and this move of the Centre will not be allowed to succeed”.

Badal reiterated that Punjab’s right over Chandigarh is non-negotiable.

According to a bulletin of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the government will introduce ‘The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill 2025′ in the upcoming winter session of Parliament, which gets underway on December 1.

The Bill proposes to include Chandigarh under the ambit of Article 240 of the Constitution, which empowers the President to make regulations for the Union Territory and to legislate directly. This will pave the way for the appointment of an independent Administrator or Lt Governor, a move that is likely to weaken Punjab’s claim over Chandigarh.

Joining the issue, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal said the BJP-led Central government’s attempt to “strip Punjab of its rights over Chandigarh” through constitutional amendments “is not part of any ordinary step, but a direct assault on Punjab’s identity and constitutional rights”.

“This mindset of tearing apart the federal structure to snatch away Punjabis’ rights is extremely dangerous,” Kejriwal, whose party is at the helm in Punjab, wrote on X.

“This is not merely an administrative decision but akin to wounding the soul of Punjab. History bears witness that Punjabis have never bowed their heads before any dictatorship. Punjab will not bow today either.”

Kejriwal reiterated that, “Chandigarh belongs to Punjab and will remain Punjab’s.”

Describing another “draconian move” of the Union government against the state, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann said the state government will not allow any “conspiracy of the BJP-led NDA government to snatch Chandigarh from the state”.

In a statement, the Chief Minister said Chandigarh was, is and will ever remain an integral part of the state, adding the amendment being proposed by the Union government to “include the capital city of Punjab in Article 240 of the Constitution in alignment with other Union territories in the ensuing session will not be allowed”.

He argued that though every parent state has sole right over its Capital, “grave injustice” had been meted out to the state by denying its capital to Punjab, adding that Punjab has the sole right to its capital.

CM Mann said it “is a naked truth that the Union government is doing grave injustice to the state by conspiring to snatch our capital from us”.

The Chief Minister said there was hardly any parallel to it, that the parent state has been devoid of capital, as in the case of Punjab.

He said nobody can deny the fact that, being the parent state, Punjab has the sole right to its capital city, Chandigarh.

The Chief Minister said there was barely any example in the country where the parent state has been deprived of its capital, after the formation of linguistic states, other than Punjab.

IANS