Jaiveer Shergill. File
| Photo Credit: PTI
A day after Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, accompanied the AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to the poll-bound State of Chhattisgarh, the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) on August 20 accused Mr. Mann of neglecting the people of Punjab on the time when the State was reeling below floods.
BJP’s nationwide spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill stated “It is extremely unfortunate that at a time when Punjab is reeling under floods and had suffered massive devastation, Mr. Mann is busy in political rallies in poll-bound States,” he stated in an announcement.
Hitting out on the Punjab Chief Minister for attending an election rally at Raipur in Chhattisgarh on August 19, Mr. Shergill stated “Punjab needs a Chief Minister and not a campaign Minister. Mr. Mann, by consistently touring other states for political purposes, is completely ignoring the interests of Punjab. Mr. Mann has only one agenda to fulfil the political ambitions of Arvind Kejriwal, who takes him [Mann] along with him to poll-bound States to showcase the ‘fake’ Punjab model to get political mileage,” he stated.
Mr. Mann had held joint rallies with Mr. Kejriwal in Raipur (Chhattisgarh) on March 5, Sri Ganganagar (Rajasthan) on June 18, Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh) on July 1, and Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh) on July 2. “In the wake of the fact that on July 17, when 19 out of 23 districts of Punjab were reeling under floods, showing scant regard towards the plight of the people, Mr. Mann was enjoying a dinner of Opposition leaders in Bengaluru. The very next day, he was present at the Opposition parties meeting in Bengaluru,” stated the BJP spokesperson, terming the actions of the Punjab Chief Minister as “highly insensitive and irresponsible”.
In Chhattisgarh, addressing a city corridor assembly in the run-up to the Assembly election, Mr. Mann had launched an assault on the BJP, terming it a celebration of ‘jumlas’ (rhetoric).