Cong insulted Dalits by saying Punjab polls to be fought under Sidhu: BJP
Darpan News Desk IANS, 20 Sep, 2021 10:30 AM
New Delhi, Sep 20 (IANS) Hitting out at the ruling Congress for party's Punjab in-charge Harish Rawat's comment that 2022 Assembly polls will be fought under the leadership of state party Chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the Congress has insulted the Dalit community of Punjab and the country.
Punjab BJP President Ashwani Sharma told IANS that to control infighting in its party state unit, the Congress leadership made Channi ji (Charanjit Singh Channi) the Punjab Chief Minister but insulted the Dalit community by not allowing him to lead the party in the upcoming state Assembly polls.
"If the Congress is not confident of the leadership capability of Charanjit Singh Channi, then why did they make him the Chief Minister for four months just before the state Assembly polls," Sharma asked.
Comparing Channi with a night watchman, Sharma further said, "The comments of Congress leaders Harish Rawat and Sunil Jakhar show that no one in the Congress party has faith in Channi's leadership. They (Congress) have made mockery of Channi and insulted Dalits of Punjab and the country."
Earlier on Monday, former Punjab Congress President Sunil Jakhar tweeted, "On the swearing-in ceremony of Charanjit Singh Channi as Chief Minister, (Harish) Rawat's statement that 'elections will be fought under Sidhu' is baffling. It's likely to undermine the Chief Minister's authority but also negate the very 'raison d'etre' of his selection for this position."
Quoting Jakhar's tweet, BJP National Spokesperson R.P. Singh said, "Someone else will be captain of Punjab, is @Charnjit_channi only Night Watchman?"
Amit Malviya, BJP's IT cell National in-charge, tweeted, "This is a huge insult to the entire Dalit community if Charanjit Singh Channi has been made the Chief Minister, only to hold the seat for Navjot Singh Sidhu, the chosen Gandhi family loyalist. This completely undermines the Dalit empowerment narrative being peddled by the Congress. Shame."
"Dalits are now mere political pawns in Congress' devious politics. In Punjab, they claim to have made a Dalit CM, only to be posted as a night watchman till Gandhi family loyalist Sidhu takes over. But maintains deafening silence over lynching of a Dalit youth in Rajasthan," Malviya said.
Priyanka's remarks came after farmers on Tuesday evening vacated the railway tracks and highways in Punjab after the Amarinder Singh government accepted the demands of the sugarcane farmers.
The 'rebel' legislators reached Dehradun in the morning to apprise Rawat about the mood of the public against the Amarinder Singh-led government in the state. They, among 20-odd party legislators, have been demanding replacement of Amarinder Singh as he failed to fulfill the 2017 poll promises.
Rao also slammed Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for raking up 10-year-old allegations related to the mining scam in an attempt to put Congress leaders in the dock in pollbound Goa.
According to the customs department, one male passenger aged 27 years, flew in from Dubai by Emirates flight EK-544 was intercepted at exit gate and his baggage which were found to be unusually heavy were subjected for detailed examination.
According to the sources, the panel members were reported about the delay and red tapism in the bureaucracy which has been hampering the pace of development in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and many new schemes announced by the Union government were getting affected.
Its convenor and founder K.C. Singh, a former envoy to the United Arab Emirates, and Iran, said the manch wants to focus on challenges facing Punjab today and take the people's views.
