The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a protest outside the residence of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday, voicing strong opposition to the ongoing water dispute between Punjab and Haryana, which has now affected the national capital.
Delhi BJP President Virendraa Sachdeva accused the AAP government in Punjab of deliberately stopping Delhi’s water supply. He alleged that Kejriwal was retaliating against Delhi’s residents for rejecting his party in the Assembly elections.
Speaking to media, Sachdeva stated, “The Arvind Kejriwal government has stopped the water supply to the people of Delhi. The people here have defeated him, but now he is doing all this to take revenge on the people of Delhi, which is very wrong… Arvind Kejriwal should justify why is he doing so..”
The protest saw participation from several BJP leaders, including Manoj Tiwari, Bansuri Swaraj, and MLA Shikha Rai.
BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj said to media, “The Arvind Kejriwal-led Punjab government has stopped the water for the people of Delhi…We are here today to demand the rights of the people of Delhi.”
Echoing similar sentiments, BJP MLA Shikha Rai added, “We are here to demand water for the people of Delhi, which has been stopped by the Arvind Kejriwal government, who used to call himself the son of Delhi… We want back the rights of the people of Delhi.”
Meanwhile, the AAP-led Punjab government has firmly opposed releasing additional water to Haryana, citing a limited water supply within the state itself.
On Monday, the Punjab Legislative Assembly held a special session to address the escalating water dispute. Punjab Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal moved a resolution strongly opposing the Bhakra Beas Management Board’s (BBMB) decision to release an additional 8,500 cusecs of water to Haryana.
Punjab maintained that it had fulfilled its voluntary water-sharing commitments and argued that Haryana’s emergency request for water was no longer valid.
This follows a May 3 all-party meeting chaired by Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, where a resolution was passed urging Punjab to comply unconditionally with BBMB’s recommendations.
On April 30, the BBMB had ordered the release of 8,500 cusecs of additional water to Haryana from the Bhakra-Nangal Dam, a move opposed by Punjab due to declining reservoir levels.