During his speech on the occasion of the 16th session of the 15th Punjab Vidhan Sabha, the Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi went all guns blazing at the Aakalis, saying that the Akalis had become the gateway through which the RSS, whom he called inimical to the interests of Punjab, managed to make inroads in the state.
"When the RSS and its political wing, the BJP, undermined the federal structure of the country by revoking the Article 370 not only did the Akalis take sides with the BJP but the SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal spoke in favour of the move and even went to the extent of not voting against the undemocratic move", Channi said.
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Effectively silencing the criticism hurled at him for meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Channi divulged that his meetings with both the dignitaries were courtesy calls.
“Perhaps the Akalis have chosen to forget very conveniently that I wrote letters to the Union Government emphasizing the reopening of the Sri Kartarpur Sahib corridor besides pleading with the government repeatedly to roll back the three draconian agricultural farm laws which are striking at the very roots of the farming sector which forms the backbone of our agrarian economy," Channi further added.
The Chief Minister further apprised the house that in his meetings with the union government on security issues, he always took the consistent stand that international borders should be sealed so that drugs could not enter Punjab. “I never ever asked them to increase the jurisdiction of the BSF in the state, of which I am being falsely accused. I am vehemently in opposition to this move by the government of India,” Channi said.
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Terming the Akalis as “power hungry people who cry hoarse in the name of people's issues but always turn a blind eye when in power,” the Chief Minister said that the Akalis joined hands with BSP just to come into power.
