Former Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday demanded President's Rule in the state after the "grave security lapse" during the prime minister's visit and said the state government should own up to it.
Amarinder also asked farmers not to fall for "unrealistic promises" made by his rivals during the election campaign but vote cautiously.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was stuck on a flyover in Punjab for 15-20 minutes on Wednesday due to blockade by some protesters and returned without attending an event at a martyrs' memorial.
There was a grave security lapse and Chief Minister (Charanjit Singh) Channi and Deputy Chief Minister (Sukhjinder Singh) Randhawa should take responsibility, Amarinder said at a public meeting after welcoming senior Congress leader Surinder Singh Kherki into his party, the Punjab Lok Congress (PLC).
The deputy chief minister also currently heads the Home department.
This is no leadership, this is cowardice, Amarinder said alleging that the chief minister and his deputy were passing the buck to others over the security breach.
Noting that it was a serious issue, Amarinder also called for President's Rule in the state. He said the Channi government had completely failed in ensuring law and order in the state.
The former chief minister slammed his successor for not receiving Modi personally at Bathinda airport and
rued that Punjab had suffered a loss of image due to the incident.
The whole world was watching... the Punjab government failed to provide safe and secure passage to the prime minister..., he said.
Amarinder termed it a loss for Punjab as Modi was scheduled to inaugurate projects worth Rs 43,000 crore, which included few hospitals and roads.
Appealing to the farmers, Amarinder asked them to "stop blocking roads and railway tracks, instead focus on what is in their interests".
He said he will continue to support them.
I supported the farmers when they were staging dharna at Tikri and Singhu borders. Even when farmers died during the protest, we paid Rs 5 lakh each to their families and a government job, he pointed out.
Amarinder appealed to the people to vote cautiously in the upcoming polls and "not get carried away by the unrealistic promises made by Arvind Kejriwal and Navjot Singh Sidhu".
While the AAP chief has promised Rs 1,000 per month to every woman in Punjab, the state Congress president has promised them double the amount.
"Even if only Rs 1,000 is to be paid to all the women in Punjab every month, the state will need about Rs 1.25 lakh crore only for this purpose.
And, do you think it is feasible when Punjab is under a debt of about Rs 5 lakh crore, he asked.
Amarinder said his PLC, the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) will form the next government as "people wanted a change".
He said the upcoming Assembly elections will stand for the security of the country and the state.
"Unless the state is secure and peaceful, there cannot be progress. It is important to have peace for progress and prosperity, not for today but for our future generations too, he remarked.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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