Harpal Singh Cheema. (Express File Photo by Kamleshwar Singh) The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) staged a walkout from the special session of Punjab Legislative Assembly over the Centre’s extension of jurisdiction of Border Security Force (BSF) Thursday, accusing Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi of playing an important role in the “deal”.
Leader of Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema asked the chief minister to clarify “what deal was struck with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah” on increasing the jurisdiction of BSF in Punjab from 15 km to 50 km. “Why does Channi have such compulsions and weaknesses that he was forced to kneel before the Modi government at the Centre,” he asked.
Meanwhile, after the walkout, MLA Aman Arora claimed the CM was seen avoiding his questions in the House. He said “Channi met Amit Shah in Delhi and then tweeted from his Twitter handle, describing the Punjab border as unsafe, stating that drugs and weapons were coming from across the border”. “Based on this baseless claim, the BSF’s jurisdiction in Punjab was increased on October 13 by the Modi-led central government,” he claimed. Arora added that when he asked Channi the reason for the tweet, he retracted.
Arora further said that Channi should apologise to Punjab and the people for his “deal” that shook the federal structure of Punjab and put the state in danger.
Cheema and Arora said Channi and Congress state president Navjot Singh Sidhu had assured during the all-party meeting that the decision to increase the jurisdiction of BSF in Punjab would be challenged in the Supreme Court, but till now no action has been taken.
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