Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Feb 14: What the prime minister Narendra Modi was complaining about the then Congress government of maltreating him in 2014, the civil aviation authorities was giving a similar treatment to the Congress chief minister of Punjab Charanjit Singh Channi on Monday.
In a bid to attack the Congress, Modi at an election rally in Jalandhar revealed that in 2014, when he was named the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, his helicopter was held up in Punjab because the then “Congress Yuvraj” (prince, hinting at Rahul Gandhi) was flying to Amritsar.
Modi said he had gone to Punjab to campaign for the national election. “I was named PM candidate. I had to visit Pathankot and Himachal to campaign. But my chopper was not allowed to fly to Pathankot because their yuvraj (prince) was also in Amritsar. He was only a Congress MP. The Congress has a habit of not allowing the opposition to work,” Modi said.
Significantly, even when he was attacking the then Congress government at the centre, the civil aviation authorities in Chandigarh had been holding up the Punjab chief minister who was not allowed to fly out of the capital city to attend a rally Rahul Gandhi was addressing at Hoshiarpur. Channi’s helicopter was not allowed to take off from Chandigarh, reportedly as a “no-fly zone” had been enforced due to the Prime Minister’s visit and he had to return home fuming. Rahul Gandhi’s chopper was, however, allowed to land in Hoshiarpur.
“Charanjit Channi is a Chief Minister, he’s not a terrorist that you are stopping him from flying to Hoshiarpur! This is not the way,” he said, furious. The Chief Minister reportedly waited for more than an hour for his helicopter to be cleared for flight as a “no-fly zone” was enforced because of the PM’s visit to Jalandhar. Channi finally returned home from the helipad.
“I was in Una at 11 am but suddenly permission to fly (to Hoshiarpur) was denied due to PM Modi’s movement, it was declared a no-fly zone. I was not able to attend Rahul Gandhi’s rally in Hoshiarpur. I had permission to land,” Channi said what is quickly becoming a huge political row.
“The Chief Minister was scheduled to come here but it’s shameful that this government cancelled permission for Charanjit Singh Channi to come to Hoshiarpur. If Election Commission doesn’t take cognisance of this, I’ll understand that these polls are a farce, a sham,” Congress leader Sunil Jakhar told the audience at Rahul Gandhi’s rally.
Modi also accused the Congress of “humiliating Captain Amarinder Singh” the former chief minister after trying to obstruct his government and run it by remote control. Singh, who was replaced by Channi as the Chief Minister at the behest of the Congress high command, was on stage when PM Modi made the remarks. The former Chief Minister has tied up with the BJP for the Punjab election the polling for which is scheduled to be held on Sunday.
Referring to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s comments about Amarinder Singh’s government “run by remote control” by the central government in Delhi, Modi said: “They said we didn’t want Captain’s government to be run by Delhi. This means Congress governments are run by remote control by one family, not by the constitution.” The Congress is “paying for its misdeeds” now, the Prime Minister said.
“Look at the state of the Congress. Their own party is falling apart. Their own leaders are exposing them. A party with so much infighting – can it give a stable government to Punjab?” Modi questioned, apparently hinting at the feud between Channi and Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu.
It was Modi’s first visit to Punjab since he was forced to return following a highway jam by the protesting farmers last month. On January 5, the Prime Minister had to skip a chopper ride over poor weather and was on his way to a rally by road when he was forced to spend 20 minutes on a flyover in Bathinda because of a blockade by farm protesters. Modi finally turned back from the spot and left for Delhi without addressing the rally.