Chandigarh, Aug 14 (IANS): The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Wednesday said Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria’s meeting with administrative secretaries was against the spirit of federalism as enshrined in the Constitution and amounted to direct interference in the internal affairs of the state by the Centre

It also advised Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to "set his house in order to avoid interference in state affairs by the Centre".

In a statement here, senior SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema said the new trend of Governors holding direct meetings of administrative officers of the state would result in a doubling in command and would be detrimental to the interests of the state. “Such meetings will also affect Centre-State relations,” the party said.

Asserting categorically that SAD had always stood for more powers to the states, Cheema said it was unfortunate that in recent years the state governments were being subjugated by the Centre and not being allowed to plan and implement their own state-specific schemes.

“This has resulted in friction between the states and the Centre in recent years and also resulted in misery for Punjabis with the Central funds in the health and education sector being withheld by the Union government. We have also witnessed Punjab being denied Rural Development Fund (RDF) dues besides unjust extension of Central control over the state’s border areas,” he said.

Stating that there could not be two parallel governments in the state, one elected by the people of Punjab and another appointed by the Union government, Cheema said the states should be allowed to run their own affairs.

He said this was all the more important in a border state like Punjab. “The entire responsibility for running the state should be with the elected government,” he added.

The SAD leader also requested the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government led by Bhagwant Mann to perform its constitutional duties and not give an opportunity to the Centre to interfere in state affairs due to its ineptitude.

Cheema said non-performance issues like the collapse of law and order in the state and the failure of the AAP government to acquire land for express highways raised by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, if not addressed by the state government, would give further opportunities to the Union government to interfere in its internal affairs.