What set off this ruckus was a Parliament bulletin containing a proposal to bring Chandigarh — the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana because the latter never built its own capital though it aspired to — under Article 240 through the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2025
Why fix it if it ain’t broken?’ is a rhetorical question that has rung inexorably true with a good dose of pragmatism to it. The ones who may not believe in the truism can only be those who seek to arrogate power as in the case of the Union Territory city of Chandigarh, for decades the capital of Punjab since Le Corbusier’s vision translated to reality by 1953.
What set off this ruckus was a Parliament bulletin containing a proposal to bring Chandigarh — the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana because the latter never built its own capital though it aspired to — under Article 240 through the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2025. The fallout was so severe that the Union Home ministry has backed off to the extent of deciding not to bring the Bill to Parliament in its winter session.
The backlash was bound to be vociferous since Punjab lost its original capital Lahore due to Partition and was still magnanimous in sharing its built-to-order capital Chandigarh once Haryana was formed in 1966. There is simply no good reason to disturb an arrangement that has stood the test of time and the ebb and flow of politics, with the Governor of Punjab now serving as Chandigarh’s Administrator.
Governed now by the AAP, as opposed to the ruling dispensation wielding power at the Centre and in Haryana, Punjab is being buffeted by a needless wind of change. The ostensible reason being advanced is that this tinkering with the administrative setup is proposed to “simplify the Central Government’s law-making process for the Union Territory of Chandigarh."
Surely, better reasons have been advanced in the Centre’s eternal search to take over more power from the states. With so much on its plate, including securing the safety of Jammu & Kashmir besides ruling a large chunk of states, including Delhi, the Centre must not be looking to stir a hornet’s nest in airing its desire to control greater territory.
As Punjab points out, 22 of its villages were razed to build Chandigarh from scratch even as historical promises were made to see that the capital project area of Chandigarh would go to Punjab. Why doesn’t the Centre goad Haryana into building its own capital and let Punjab have its exclusive capital?
