Overview
- Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said 11 Punjab-related agenda items were deferred at the Northern Zonal Council meeting in Faridabad chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, with status quo ordered on most issues.
- The bid to restore the Chandigarh Administration intake ratio of 60:40 between Punjab and Haryana was sent to the NZC standing committee after Himachal Pradesh asserted a 7% claim in staffing.
- Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu reiterated the state’s 7.19% entitlement to Chandigarh’s land and assets under the Punjab Reorganisation Act and sought BBMB dues and a permanent BBMB member from Himachal.
- Punjab opposed a proposal for a whole-time BBMB member from Rajasthan, while Himachal pressed for its own representation as disputes over hydropower governance and revenues continued.
- Mann reaffirmed that Punjab has no surplus water to share, advocated alternatives such as a Yamuna–Sutlej link and linking Chenab to Ravi–Beas, and resisted altering Panjab University’s status and raising Bhakra and Pong dam reservoir levels.