CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Government has now sought the intervention of Union Home Minister Amit Shah after the Union Government decided to appoint two new members to the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) from Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, terming it “incremental federal erosion”.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has written a letter to Amit Shah urging him to advise the Ministry of Power not to create additional posts of whole-time members.

“Further, the ministry may fill the vacant posts of members following the earlier arrangement under which one member got appointed from Punjab and another from Haryana,” he wrote, adding that there could not be more than two whole-time members of the board.

Drawing attention to Section 79 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, Mann stated that Punjab has already challenged the constitutional vires of Sections 78 and 79 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, in the Supreme Court. “A civil suit (No. 2 of 2007) is still pending for decision,” he said.

On October 10, the Union Ministry of Power had written to the four partner states - Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Himachal Pradesh - seeking their comments on its proposal to increase the number of whole-time members from two (one each from Punjab and Haryana) to four.

The ministry said that based on requests from Rajasthan and Himachal for increasing the number of whole-time members, it had proposed amendments to Section 79(2)(a) of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966.

The Punjab Government has been objecting to granting equal representation to Rajasthan and Himachal, saying its share was 58 per cent and it bore the maximum expense of the board.