BJP flays Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann's statement in Assembly

Tribune Reporters

Jalandhar/Phagwara, Nov 29

The Punjab unit of the BJP has flayed Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for his remarks regarding the party in the Vidhan Sabha yesterday.

BJP state general secretary Anil Sarin termed the comments as highly objectionable. Mann had said yesterday, “If left to the BJP, they will not shy away from eliminating the name of Punjab from the National Anthem.”

Sarin said that the comments by CM in the Assembly yesterday did not behove a person holding the top political post in the state. He said, “It seems that the CM has completely forgotten that he is running a government and not a comedy circus.”

Apart from this, he completely rejected the allegations of the CM that the BJP government at the Centre was discriminating against Punjab.

Sarin also accused the CM of misusing the funds received from the Centre and said that he should tell where the funds sent by the Centre for flood relief were used.

Sarin said that Rs 500 crore had been released so far by the BJP government at the Centre to provide housing to every person. Of the target of 36,813 houses, 29,301 have been constructed. Along with this, he reminded Mann that the BJP government at the Centre had laid the foundation stone of projects worth more than Rs 42,750 crore in January 2022 to boost the economic condition of Punjab. The length of National Highways which was 1,700 km in 2014 has been increased to 4,100 km in 2021 by the BJP government at the Centre, he said.

Sarin said that Mann should avoid making such statements and focus on fulfilling the promises made to the people of the state. Former Punjab ministers Manoranjan Kalia and Tikshan Sood, BJP Punjab state general secretary and zonal in-charge Jagmohan Singh Raju, former Mayor of Jalandhar Rakesh Rathore, former Chief Parliamentary Secretary and state vice-president Krishan Dev Bhandari, former CPS Avinash Chandra, BJP district president Sushil Sharma, ex-MLA Sarabjit Singh Makkar, former state secretary Anil Sachar, former district president Raman Pabbi, district general secretary Ashok Sarin Hickey, Arunesh Shakar, Inder Iqbal Atwal, Rajesh Kapoor, Amarjeet Singh Goldie, Rajiv Dhingra and Amit Bhatia were also present on the occasion.

Meanwhile, BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh condemned Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for his statement in Phagwara on Wednesday. Chugh demanded that the remarks made by the CM should be expunged from the Assembly proceedings and the Speaker should issue a warning to the Chief Minister against using such words in the House.

Chugh said that the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway project initiated by the Centre will connect the major religious places of Sikh community like the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala, Goindwal Sahib, Khadoor Sahib and Darbar Sahib in Taran Taran till Vaishno Devi shrine in Katra. It was therefore unbecoming of the Punjab CM to make such irresponsible statements, he said.