Punjab CM Amarinder accuses BJP of ‘spreading false Propaganda’ over attack on state unit chief

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 14

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Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for “provocative and inflammatory actions” that he claimed were aimed at disturbing the state’s law and order.

The remarks come in the wake of the attack on Ashwani Sharma’s motorcade, which police have blamed on protesting farmers’ unions.

Amarinder said Sharma’s statements were “rabble-rousing statements and baseless accusations” against the Punjab Congress, and accused the Punjab BJP unit president of trying to spread false propaganda.

“These actions were clearly aimed at diverting the attention of the people from the farmers’ angst against the BJP over the farm laws,” a press release quoted him as saying.

The Chief Minister asserted that the people of Punjab, including the farmers, will not be misled by these irresponsible statements and actions that he claimed that the BJP’s Punjab leadership were using regardless of how it could aggravate the COVID pandemic.

“The farmers are angry and anguished at the farm laws enacted by the BJP-led central government, and instead of empathising with them and conveying their pain to the high command, the BJP state leadership was trying to exploit the incident of 12th October to earn political brownie points,” he said. “Contrary to the falsehoods Sharma was trying to spread, the state government had been taking all steps to ensure the security of the BJP leaders amid the Kisan protests,” he added. After the incident of October 12, Ashwani Sharma’s security had been beefed up and a total of 16 Punjab Police security personnel, including Commandoes, are deployed with him currently, he added.

Meanwhile, Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta gave details of the confrontation between Sharma’s cavalcade and some protesting farmers on October 12.

The DGP said that at around 7 pm, Sharma’s motorcade was confronted by around 25 protestors belonging to different farmers’ unions. “They suddenly came in front of his pilot security escort vehicle and Innova vehicle, carrying black/yellow flags etc. and shouting slogans. These protestors had been picketing the Toll Plaza at Cholang on NH-1 for almost 2 weeks from Jalandhar to Jammu,” the press release said.

The press release quoted the DGP as saying that after 15-18 seconds of protest, both the vehicles in the motorcade, which kept moving all the time, were allowed to go but a protestor hit and broke the rear windscreen of the Innova with a wooden flag stick.

“A side glass window of the Innova also got damaged in the process.  More than seven Personal Security officers, including Security In-charge ASI Hari Ram and 3 Punjab Police Commandoes, who were accompanying Sharma at the time of incident, immediately got off their vehicles and took the BJP Punjab chief safely away,” the press release said.

 He was escorted to Dasuya (Hoshiarpur) Police station where DSP Tanda and SSP Hoshiarpur joined him, the release said.

A criminal case under relevant sections of law has been registered against the protestors for rioting armed with deadly weapon (Section 148), criminal conspiracy (120-B), wrongful restraint (341) of the Indian Penal Code and sections of The National Highways Act, 1956.