Sanjay Nirupam defends Charanjit Channi, attacks Arvind Kejriwal

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Jalandhar, February 9

Siding with Punjab CM Charanjit Channi over the recent controversy of his wife’s nephew Bhupinder Honey getting caught by the Enforcement Directorate in an alleged case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam on Wednesday said he couldn’t be held responsible for anything that his wife’s nephew was doing.

Nirupam said the opposition parties, particularly the Aam Aadmi Party, should not indulge in levelling allegations against Channi over the case. “Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s nephew was caught by the Anti-Corruption Bureau in 2018 over an alleged PWD scam. He, too, had not step down and had defended his position. So, how can he now level allegations against the Punjab CM?” he asked.

Regarding BSP supremo Mayawati’s allegations that the Congress does not give due regard to its Dalit leaders when the party is in a comfortable situation, Nirupam said: “Since she is our opponent and is siding with Akali Dal this time, she is levelling such charges. However, it was our party that gave her the first good projection when she had tied up with us in 1989. Our party has always given due credit to its Dalit leaders including Babu Jagjeevan Ram, Buta Singh and even Sushil Kumar Shinde, who was the first Dalit CM of Maharashtra.”

Like earlier, the ex-MP maintained that he still believes that the EVMs can be tampered. “I do not trust the machines. They can be manipulated anytime. Who does it and how it is done is still a debatable topic for the past seven years,” he said.

The Congress leaders screened a video of the harassment of the migrants at the time of first phase of Covid and alleged that the PM Narendra Modi-led Centre wreaked havoc on the lives of the poor people who went back home in dire circumstances.