Jalandhar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today attacked the Congress and Rahul Gandhi over a 2014 incident when he said his helicopter was held up in Punjab because “Yuvraj (prince)” was flying to Amritsar.
PM Modi said he had gone to Punjab to campaign for the 2014 national election, after being named the BJP’s presumptive Prime Minister, when the incident took place.
“My name was announced for PM candidate. I had to visit Pathankot and Himachal to campaign. But my chopper was not allowed to fly because their yuvraj (prince) was also in Amritsar. So the Congress has a habit of not allowing the opposition to work,” PM Modi said at a rally in Jalandhar ahead of Sunday’s election in Punjab.
The PM’s taunt was significant on a day Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s helicopter was not allowed to take off from Chandigarh’s Rajendra Park, reportedly as a “no-fly zone” had been enforced due to the Prime Minister’s visit.
The Chief Minister was flying to Punjab’s Hoshiarpur for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s poll rally. Rahul Gandhi’s chopper was, however, allowed to land in Hoshiarpur.
The Prime Minister also accused the Congress of “humiliating Captain Amarinder Singh” after trying to obstruct his government and run it by remote control.
Amarinder Singh, who was replaced as Chief Minister by the Congress in September, was on stage when PM Modi made the remarks.
Referring to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s comments about Amarinder Singh’s government “run by remote control” by the central government in Delhi, PM 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?” PM Modi questioned.
The Prime Minister was addressing his first rally in Punjab since last month’s security lapse, when he was forced to spend 20 minutes on a flyover on his way to a rally because of a blockade by farm protesters.
“I wanted to visit Devi Ka Talab but the Punjab Police said it can’t allow it due to security. This is the condition of security in Punjab,” PM Modi remarked.
Punjab will vote on Sunday for a new government.
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