SAD Seeks Transfers of Kartarpur Sahib, Chandigarh & Trade at Indo-Pak Border

The Sikh-dominated SAD political party, an earlier ally of ruling BJP, released its election manifesto, which seeks the transfer of Kartarpur Sahib from Pakistan to India through mutual land exchange between the two countries. ‘The party promises to work with the Government of India so that the requirement for passports for pilgrims to Kartarpur Sahib be dropped and be replaced with a simple permit system,’ added Sukhbir Badal. Badal said he is committed to re-opening the India-Pakistan trade corridor through the Attari-Wagah checkpoint in Amritsar, and Hussainiwala in Ferozepur and Fazilka. He said his party will renew the fight for the inclusion of Chandigarh and other Panjabi-speaking areas left out of the state. ‘Chandigarh was declared to belong to Panjab and was to remain a Union Territory for only five years. We will fight the Center's betrayal of Punjab on this with renewed force.’ However, SAD is not even contesting the Chandigarh seat in this election. The decision comes after SAD’s Chandigarh candidate Hardeep Singh Saini quit the party on 6 May and joined AAP. With SAD out of the picture, the stage is now set for a showdown between INC’s Manish Tewari and BJP’s Sanjay Tandon. Terming the current governance and administrative structure in Chandigarh as a nightmare, INC candidate Tewari said, ‘The fundamental problem is that the administrative structure of Chandigarh was designed for a period of five years. The administrative structure was supposed to lapse in 1971. Now, that has got perpetuated into perpetuity. You have a situation whereby Chandigarh can move from a union territory to a city state.’ Chandigarh as a city state – on the lines of New Delhi – is part of Tewari’s manifesto.