New Delhi. Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi said in the Lok Sabha on Thursday that keeping an elected MP in jail under the National Security Act is an ‘undeclared emergency’, to which the BJP reacted sharply, saying Channi was referring to jailed extremist Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh and this proves that the Congress is with the Khalistanis.
During the discussion on the budget in the Lok Sabha, former Punjab Chief Minister Channi alleged that the people of BJP talk about the Emergency of 1975, but at present there is an ‘economic emergency’ and ‘undeclared emergency’ in the country. Referring to the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, he said, “It is an emergency that a Member of Parliament elected by 20 lakh voters in Punjab has been detained under the National Security Act (NSA). He cannot speak for the people of his constituency here. This is also an emergency.” Channi did not name anyone during this time, but BJP leaders claimed that the Congress MP was referring to Amritpal Singh, elected from Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha.
Union Minister and BJP leader Giriraj Singh said that the statements made by Congress MP Channi inside Parliament are unfortunate.
He told ‘PTI Video’, “Khalistanis who killed Indira Gandhi got open support from Channi today. This means that Congress is with the Khalistanis. This is an attack on the integrity of India. I say action should be taken.” BJP spokesperson Shahzad Poonawala said on ‘X’ that Congress will have to answer whether the party supports the idea of Khalistan, the idea due to which the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984.
He said, “Why does Congress always support separatists and terrorists? Yakub, Afzal, 26/11 jihadis and now ‘K’ terrorists?” BJP MP Dinesh Sharma demanded Channi’s expulsion from the Congress. He told ‘PTI Video’, “Today Channi, who does not have the status of a penny, is speaking in support of terrorists and glorifying them. He is working at the behest of anti-national elements from Canada.” Channi also said in his speech in the Lok Sabha that thousands of farmers are called Khalistanis by the BJP, this is also an emergency.
Channi’s personal opinion on Amritpal, this is not the party’s stand: Congress
The Congress on Thursday distanced itself from the remarks of its MP Charanjit Singh Channi in reference to radical preacher Amritpal Singh, saying that it is his personal opinion and not the party’s stand. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posted on ‘X’, “The views expressed by MP Charanjit Singh Channi on Amritpal Singh are his own and do not in any way reflect the stand of the Indian National Congress.” Former Punjab Chief Minister Channi said during the discussion on the budget in the Lok Sabha on Thursday that the BJP makes allegations of emergency, but an undeclared emergency is still in force in the country.
He said that this is an emergency when an elected MP has been put in jail under NSA and he is not able to represent the people of his constituency. Channi was referring to Amritpal Singh. Union Minister Ravneet Bittu and the ruling party strongly objected to this. Bittu alleged that the Congress is in support of the Khalistanis.