Cabinet review meet on floods cancelled due to internal rift: Channi

Former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi launched a sharp attack on the Aam Aadmi Party here on Friday, saying it was not just the Chief Minister who was unwell, but the entire party and its government in the state was ill and hospitalised.

He alleged that the Punjab Government is not serious about helping flood-hit families, claiming that the crucial Cabinet review meeting on the calamity was cancelled because of ‘internal rift’, not due to CM Bhagwant Mann’s poor health.

Channi’s comments came as he accompanied Punjab Congress in-charge Bhupesh Baghel, who is on a two-day visit to Punjab, PPCC president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla and other local Congress leaders.

Baghel, a former Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, is here to visit six flood-ravaged border districts of the state and submit his report to Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha. He flagged off relief material and said the flood devastation was the result of failures at both the state and Central Government levels. He accused authorities of withholding data on deaths, livestock losses and crop damage.

How could the state government and the Centre be so ‘insensitive’, he questioned, while adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not even posted a single tweet regarding the miserable situation in Punjab. They all had left Punjab’s people to fend for themselves, he alleged.

Meanwhile, Channi claimed that every Congress worker and leader was on the ground to help the flood victims. He said the senior leader might also visit Punjab soon.

PPCC president Warring said questions on how the calamity occurred and who was at fault would be answered in the coming days after the relief operations. He said this was not the right time to play blame game. Today is the time to help the flood-affected people.

Later, they flagged off four trucks of relief material to be distributed among the flood-hit victims in Ajnala and Ferozepur areas.

Raj Kumar Verka, former cabinet minister, said the Central Government has, so far, not announced any relief for Punjab, which has been battling floods for the past 10 days.