Chandigarh, Apr 19 (PTI) AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Gupta on Tuesday said water from the SYL canal will reach Haryana's fields if his party comes to power in the state, drawing a sharp reaction from the Punjab Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal.

Gupta, who is also the Aam Aadmi Party's Haryana affairs incharge, claimed that his party will form the next government in Haryana and said, "In 2025, water will reach every field in Haryana. This is not our promise, but our guarantee."

Also Read | Oppenheimer: Robert Downey Jr and Cillian Murphy’s Pictures From the Sets of Christopher Nolan's Film Surface Online.

When asked if he means the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal waters too, Gupta replied in the affirmative. "'Bilkul' (absolutely)," he said.

Reacting to the statement, the Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) sought clarification over it from the AAP government in Punjab.

Also Read | SBI SCO Recruitment 2022: Apply For 11 Posts of Specialist Cadre Officer At sbi.co.in; Check Details Here.

The SYL canal has been a bone of contention between Punjab and Haryana for several decades.

Punjab has been demanding a reassessment of its share of the Ravi-Beas rivers water while Haryana has been seeking completion of the canal to get its share of water.

Interacting with reporters in Kurukshetra, Gupta hit out at the Congress and the BJP, saying they don't want to resolve the SYL canal issue so that they could indulge in vote bank politics.

Gupta said it has been more than 50 years since Haryana came into existence after the bifurcation of Punjab.

"During this period, there have been occasions when Congress-led governments ruled at the Centre, in Punjab and Haryana. Likewise, there have been occasions when BJP governments ruled at the Centre, in Haryana and Punjab," he said.

"They do not want to resolve the issue. They want this issue to continue so that they could do vote bank politics on this," Gupta said.

Speaking to reporters, Punjab Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira asked state CM Bhagwant Mann and his party leaders to clear their stand on this.

Khaira said Punjab does not have any surplus water to spare and urged the Bhagwant Mann government to strongly defend Punjab's stand on the issue.

Khaira said the Haryana government is considering filing a contempt of court petition and the state government and its advocate general should strongly defend Punjab's case.

He was reacting to reports that Haryana government is considering filing a contempt of court petition against Punjab for not implementing the Supreme Court's earlier orders over the issue.

Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring asked why AAP's Punjab leaders are silent on this.

On Haryana contemplating to file a contempt petition, Warring on Monday tweeted, "The enemy is at the gates Mann Sahib, what are yourpreparations. Take all parties into confidence and prepare legal-administrative strategies.”

Shiromani Akali Dal leader Daljit Singh Cheema asked Mann to tell Punjabis whether the "guarantee" given by Gupta has been given "with his blessings".

Terming the development as shocking, Cheema said, "The Delhi MP, who is from Haryana, could have only given such an iron clad guarantee if he had been authorised to do so by AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal. The issue is whether the Punjab chief minister was taken in the loop or not."

"Mr Bhagwant Mann should make his stand clear on this issue immediately as Punjabis will never allow AAP to barter away its core interests for electoral gains in Haryana," Cheema said in a statement.

"It is only one month since this victory and already AAP is taking Punjabis for granted by announcing that it would give away the river waters of the state to Haryana," Cheema said.

He said, "Our river waters are our life blood. We have always maintained that we do not have one extra drop of water to spare."

The Haryana state assembly had earlier this month passed a resolution during a special one-day session asking the Centre to take measures for the construction of the SYL canal in compliance with the apex court directions.

The Haryana government had summoned the one-day Assembly session just days after the Punjab Assembly passed a resolution seeking immediate transfer of Chandigarh to the Aam Aadmi Party-run state.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)