Rajasthan House adjourned over water pact with Punjab

Jaipur, Mar 7 (UNI) Rajasthan Assembly was adjourned four times today after unruly scenes were witnessed over water sharing agreement with Punjab.

After loud scenes during Question Hour, the House was adjourned for 42 minutes till 1200 hrs. Thereafter the House was adjourned twice, once for half an hour and later for 15 minutes.

When the House assembled again, Speaker Sumitra Singh asked Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje to give a statement. Mrs Raje categorically said the government would not allow the controversy to affect Rajasthan in any way.

Former Chief Minister and legislator Shiv Charan Mathur said the House should deliberate on the matter for full one day.

The inter-state water agreement signed among five states was signed in 1981 during the time of Mr Mathur's tenure.

The ruling legislators voiced their protest over the 1981 agreement, which was made during Congress regime. Congress members protested Mrs Raje's support to the Akali Dal during the recent Vidhan Sabha elections.

Amid the unruly scenes and slogan shouting between ruling and Opposition benches, the Speaker adjourned the House again till 1400 hrs.

Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal is said to have declared that he would unilaterally terminate the water-sharing pact reached between the five states.

Expressing concern over the issue along with Opposition members, Chief Minister Raje assured the people of the state that the government will not allow anybody to reduce its water-share in the Ravi-Beas rivers.

Mrs Raje said during her talks with Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, he had assured that Rajasthan's interests would not be harmed.

Mrs Raje said the Rajasthan government would appeal before the Special Bench in the Supreme Court referring to the termination of the water agreement in the Punjab Assembly and the Presidential reference to it.

She assured that there can be no politics over water-sharing for the state and those who will be responsible for reducing the water share would have to be answerable to the people of the state.

Congress' B D Kalla said the ruling BJP is totally ignoring Akali Dal's role in the entire matter as it has been its ally in the recent Punjab Assembly elections.

After the House assembled at 1400 hrs, Congress legislators stood up on their seats and started slogan shouting. Later the Speaker adjourned the House till 1500 hrs.

UNI