Impose Prez's rule in Pb: Amarinder after 'lapse' in PM's security
Darpan News Desk IANS, 05 Jan, 2022 12:47 PM
Chandigarh, Jan 5 (IANS) Holding the Punjab government squarely responsible for the "gross security lapse" during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Punjab, that eventually led to cancellation of all his programmes, former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday demanded dismissal of the government and imposition of President's rule.
"This government has lost all the moral and constitutional authority to continue in office as it failed in its constitutional duty to provide security to our Prime Minister," the former Chief Minister said in a statement.
He said, by trying to deflect the issue and claim that it was a spontaneous protest by some people that blocked the Prime Minister's route, the government was trying to defend the "indefensible" and "run away" from its responsibility.
"If the Prime Minister of the country has to cancel all his programmes owing to a grave security breach, what should be the plight of the ordinary person living in Punjab?" Amarinder Singh asked, while asserting that the sooner this government be dismissed "better" it would be for the state and its people.
He said that it was a "deliberate mischief" of the government to disrupt the Prime Minister's programmes in Punjab as he was to start various development projects to the tune of more than Rs 50,000 crore, which would "benefit" the people of the state.
The former Chief Minister "regretted" that this government had "stooped so low" that it "orchestrated" disruption of the rally and "did not" provide proper security to the Prime Minister and he had to cancel his programmes.
"Just because he belongs to the opposition party does not mean that you disrupt his programmes, after all he is the Prime Minister of the entire country," Amarinder Singh told his predecessor Charanjit Channi, while adding, "What happened today was shameful and disgraceful and the government and the Chief Minister cannot escape the responsibility for it".
Calling the reports of alleged snooping on prominent citizens using Israeli Pegasus spyware as "baseless", the ruling BJP on Monday said there is not a single shred of evidence so far that links either the central government or the party to this controversy.
Congress MPs from both Houses had met on Sunday afternoon at Rajya Sabha member Pratap Singh Bajwa's residence to discuss the issues related to Punjab and sought an appointment with Gandhi.
Apart from reviewing the security arrangements in the national capital, the Delhi Police have also strengthened the security in and around the Red Fort ahead of the Independence Day.
Police said acting on a specific information, Budgam Police along with the Army's 53 RR and 43 BN of the CRPF arrested one local terrorist linked with proscribed terror outfit LeT and recovered incriminating materials, arms and ammunition including one Chinese pistol, one magazine, eight live pistol rounds from his possession.
As the Pegasus spyware scandal unravelled within and outside Parliament, he termed it a "shocking assault" on India's democratic polity by the Union government, which had compromised the national security with "this blatantly disgraceful act".
The shocking incident happened on Sunday when the lawyer, Satyadev Joshi and his associate Ankit Tandon had gone to survey a land for a client in Dahisar suburb.
