Cheema alleged that it was a conspiracy hatched by the BJP and the Congress to keep AAP away from Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary celebrations in Kartarpur Sahib. (File) THE AAP on Thursday claimed that its delegation was “denied” permission to visit the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan, blaming the Centre and the Punjab government for the same. Later in the day, the party said that AAP MLAs, led by state party unit chief Bhagwant Mann, will go to Dera Baba Nanak Friday and pay obeisance to Guru Nanak from the border itself.
Leader of Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema said the party MLAs were to proceed to Kartarpur on Friday — on the occasion of Guru Nanak Dev’s ‘Parkash Utsav’ — with state president Bhagwant Mann and state co-incharge Raghav Chadha leading the delegation. “However, we were informed by the Punjab government that the clearance for our visit has not been received and we have been asked to apply under regular process,” he added.
Cheema alleged that this was a conspiracy hatched by the BJP and Congress to keep AAP away from Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary celebrations in Kartarpur Sahib. “When every other leader of Congress and BJP has been given permission to visit, then why have we been denied? This is because BJP and Congress feel threatened by the popularity of AAP in run-up to the 2022 polls and are resorting to underhand methods,” he said.
AAP leader Raghav Chadha, in a tweet, shared a purported communication by the Centre to the Punjab government regarding the political clearance for the visit of ministers and MLAs to the shrine over three days.
“AAP delegation has been denied permission to visit Sri Kartarpur Sahib by Modi-Channi duo. It is clear that as per a tactical understanding between PM Modi and CM Channi, only Channi and his men are permitted to visit. The match-fixing between Modi & Channi has surfaced yet again,” he said.
Chadha, the co-incharge of the party’s political affairs in Punjab, also shared a list of the Punjab government delegation approved by the Centre, on the microblogging site.
Reacting to the development, AAP national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted: “Such politics is not good for the country and society. Not even an enemy should be stopped from praying in a gurdwara on Gurpurab,” he said.
Later in a video message, Chadha said AAP had submitted an application to both the Centre and Punjab government, requesting political clearance and permission to the party delegation to visit Kartarpur Sahib.
“But, both the Modi government and Channi-led dispensation in Punjab denied giving permission to the AAP delegation to bow down in the court of Kartarpur Sahib,” he added.
With PTI INPUTS
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