Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi alleged that the night curfew imposed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led Delhi Government was just a “ploy” to get the Punjab assembly polls postponed by projecting the COVID threat to be grievous. Channi also accused the BJP of wanting to postpone the Punjab polls.
“AAP’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal is creating a hype of Omicron with an ulterior motive to postpone the forthcoming assembly polls in Punjab,” said Channi during an event where 58 new buses were inducted into the government fleet.
AAP, on the other hand, quickly dismissed the claim as “baseless” and “immature”.
While talking with the media, Channi said: “Punjab Government planned to soon address issues that concerned Anganwadi workers, ASHA health workers, and truckers’ unions...But the AAP and the BJP want the elections postponed.”
AAP has imposed a night curfew in Delhi to show that the situation is serious and these elections should not be held, he said adding that his party, however, was ready for the elections “today”.
AAP’s senior leader and the Leader of Opposition in Punjab Vidhan Sabha Harpal Singh Cheema, reacting to Channi’s remarks, said that Kejriwal was concerned about the health of the people.
Terming Channi’s remarks “baseless” and “immature”, Cheema said that night curfew has been imposed in some other states as well, and not just in Delhi. “The Congress is scared of Kejriwal’s popularity in Punjab and predicted that AAP will form the next government there,” he said.
Slamming Chief Minister Channi for accusing the BJP of creating panic over the pandemic situation after the rise in the cases of COVID across the country ahead of the assembly elections, Union Minister and Punjab BJP election in-charge Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said: “Centre has not issued any fresh guidelines over COVID-19, but many states have done it unilaterally.”
“I think Channi sahib is pointing towards AAP and Kejriwal. Delhi government have issued a yellow alert in Delhi. Kejriwal has closed down the schools and colleges in the national capital but is conducting rallies in Punjab,” he added.
Even as no political parties in the states going to the polls early next year have called for their postponement, the Allahabad High Court had recently suggested that the Election Commission should consider deferring the polls for a month or two because of the pandemic,, besides banning the election rallies.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Shekhawat had also made it clear that the BJP is ready for virtual election rallies and the party will follow the Election Commission’s guidelines issued regarding polls in the wake of the emergence of Omicron variant of COVID-19.
Shekhawat, speaking with the media in the national capital, said: “Conducting elections is the responsibility of the Election Commission. The EC is holding talks with the health secretary and the experts over the pandemic situation of the country. The election commission will make a decision on election rallies and we will follow the guidelines.”
“BJP is ready for virtual election rallies. We did hold virtual election rallies during the West Bengal elections. During the first and second waves of the COVID pandemic, the political parties around the globe went under hibernation. But BJP was still active at the booth level through the virtual platform. BJP can work in any circumstances,” he said.
Amid the concerns over the new Omicron COVID-19 variant, the Election Commission of India (ECI) team on Tuesday met all the major political parties in Uttar Pradesh.
Assembly election has been scheduled for five states which include Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur in 2022.