There were no threats to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's life, said Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Friday, while speaking to NDTV about the recent security lapse in the state involving the Prime Minister. On allegations of threat to the PM's life, he called it a "conspiracy" to defame the state.
Here are the highlights on this big story:
- "This is a big conspiracy to defame Punjab, its people and Punjabiyat. This should not happen. There should be no politics on this," he said.
- "Some people were agitating on the road. They didn't know the Prime Minister was coming through that route. The Prime Minister's cavalcade knew about the agitation from a km away. So they took an U-turn. Where is the threat here?" wondered Mr Channi.
- "No one raised slogans in front of the Prime Minister. No one said 'murdabad'. So where is the threat to life here? In a democratic system, if someone stages a sit-in, there's a system to vacate the road. There was no plan to go through that route," he said.
- "He (PM Modi) has returned from UP numerous times, changed his route in various states. So what if he changed his route or taken a U-turn in Punjab?" asked the chief minister.
- "Where was the threat? I have already said I would be the first to take a bullet for the Prime Minister. What else should I do? Cut my wrist?" said Mr Channi.
- "The maximum number of people in the freedom struggle have been from Punjab. It it, therefore, wrong to accuse Punjab and Punjabis of such acts," said the chief minister.
- On allegations that there threat to the PM's life, Mr Channi said, "These are baseless statements, being made as an attempt to defame Punjab and destabilise the state."
