The North News
Chandigarh, May 6
Punjab Finance Minister, Harpal Singh Cheema, on Monday demanded that opposition parties, particularly the Congress, apologise for what he called a “history of betrayal” in handling the state’s water crisis. Speaking during a heated session of the Punjab Assembly, Cheema praised Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann’s “unwavering” defence of Punjab’s water rights and called for accountability from those who, he said, allowed the state’s resources to be bartered away.
Addressing legislators during a government-sponsored debate on protecting Punjab’s rights over its river waters, Cheema said Mann’s firm stand on issues like the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) had “set a new benchmark” in safeguarding state interests. “The Chief Minister has proven that Punjab’s dignity cannot be compromised,” he said.
Cheema directed his strongest criticism at the Congress, accusing it of repeatedly failing the state on water issues over successive decades. “I implore the Congress Party to rise in this House and apologise to the people of Punjab,” he said, adding that both the BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal were equally complicit in enabling “decades of water mismanagement.”
The Finance Minister also took aim at the BJP-led Centre, accusing it of punishing Punjab financially and politically. He cited what he termed as “arbitrary reductions” in the state’s borrowing limit and the imposition of now-repealed farm laws as part of a broader pattern of central “attacks” on the state. “The BJP government continues to single out Punjab,” Cheema said. “But under Bhagwant Mann’s leadership, we will not retreat.”
In a notable shift from rhetoric to legal appeal, Cheema called upon the Punjab and Haryana High Court to take suo motu cognizance of the state’s ongoing water disputes. He argued that legal backing would strengthen the state’s fight to retain control over its river resources, which have historically been allocated to non-riparian states in violation of both national and international norms.
Cheema closed his remarks with a call for unity, thanking all political parties in the Assembly for supporting the resolution. “This is not a partisan issue—it is about Punjab’s survival. The people expect us to act with one voice,” he said.
