Chandigarh, Oct 13 (PTI) Days after Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann challenged the BJP, Congress and the SAD for an open debate November 1 on issues related to the state, the Shiromani Akali Dal termed it an "anti-Punjab exercise" and said it would not take part in this "sham debate".

In a statement issue here on Friday, senior SAD leader Prem Singh Chandumajra said, "Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is organising a sham debate on November 1 to divide Punjabis on the orders of Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal".

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The SAD would not be part of this "anti-Punjab exercise", he said.

Amid opposition parties' criticism over the issue of Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal, Mann on Sunday dared the BJP, Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal for an open debate on November 1 on issues pertaining to the state.

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Opposition leaders have been attacking the AAP government over the SYL Canal issue, accusing it of failing to safeguard the state's interest.

Their criticism came following the Supreme Court directive on October 4, asking the Centre to conduct a survey of land in Punjab that was allocated for the construction of the canal's portion in the state and make an estimate of the extent of work carried out there.

"We have learnt that central survey teams are expected to come to Punjab on November 1. Our focus will be on ensuring these teams do not conduct any survey on Punjab soil. Accordingly, we will protest against any attempt to conduct a survey to facilitate construction of the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal to transfer the state's waters to Haryana both at the starting point of the canal at Loondh Khad near Kiratpur and at its end point in Kapuri village in Patiala district," Chandumajra said.

The SAD leader alleged Mann is following the directions of Arvind Kejriwal and is bent on creating conditions for the transfer of Punjab's waters to Haryana.

"The debate on November 1 at PAU, Ludhiana, is being held solely to divide the political parties of Punjab and create acrimony amongst them so that Punjabis cannot unite against the conspiracy to part them with their river waters," Chandumajra alleged.

He said if the chief minister had been interested in a resolution "which safeguarded Punjab's interests he would have called an all-party meeting to present a united front before the Supreme Court hearing (in the SYL matter)".

The SAD leader alleged the chief minister had also run away when SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal on October 10 sought to discuss the issue threadbare with him.

"We wanted to ask the chief minister why his government compromised the state's interests in the Supreme Court and why he was facilitating press conferences of the Haryana AAP unit in Punjab ministerial bungalows here attached with him in which Haryana representatives of his party demanded the immediate construction of the SYL and release of water to the State," he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar had said he was not going to be the part of any "drama" as he was not a theatre artist, calling Mann's challenge for an open debate a part of his "ploy to distract peoples' attention" from main issues of the state.

Jakhar had alleged that Mann's call for the debate with opposition leaders was a "distraction and deception" as the AAP government was facing criticism for "diluting" the state's stand on the SYL issue in the Supreme Court.

(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)