Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has reportedly ticked off Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh for precipitating a constitutional crisis on the Sutlej Yamuna Link canal issue.
The Supreme Court had told the Centre to take up construction of the canal in Punjab if the State does not do so by July 15 to honour an agreement on sharing of waters of the Ravi and Beas rivers with Haryana and Rajasthan, which expect to benefit immensely from this canal.
The two States had been pressing Punjab to expedite the work but the latter had been dillydallying in deference to the wishes of its farmers who have been opposing the canal fearing losing water to the two neighbouring States.
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In this, the ruling Congress got the full cooperation of the opposition Akali Dal led by former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal.
However, the Indian Express reports, the Punjab chief minister had not consulted either the prime minister or Congress chief Sonia Gandhi before introducing the Bill in the state assembly putting both in an awkward position.
The prime minister is slated to meet the chief ministers of the three States to work out a solution to the water sharing problem.
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