A day after the city came to a standstill during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit, the inconvenience caused to the residents is fast turning into a political controversy.
Despite Modi’s announcement on ordering a probe into the hassles faced by the residents, Congress did not miss this chance to hit out at the PM on this issue.
Congress leaders from Punjab and Haryana have trained their guns on the Chandigarh Administration and the PM and have demanded an explanation from the Centre on the problems faced by the city residents.
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President Partap Singh Bajwa said that it is hypocritical of Modi to feign ignorance about the excessive security preparation undertaken by the Chandigarh Administration which incidentally comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Bajwa said that it is highly unfortunate that a Kargil veteran Brigadier Devinder Singh was forced to shift the cremation of his son to Mohali and cremation of a leading Senior Advocate and Former Advocate General of the State Gopal Krishan Chathrath had to be deferred because the crematoriums were shut down due to Modi’s rally.
"It is unprecedented in the history of independent India that crematoriums and schools are shut down for a political function of the Prime Minister. It is abundantly clear that the buck stops with the Prime Minister’s office and the so-called inquiry that the Prime Minister has ordered is nothing more than farce to deflect the responsibility from his own office," he said in a statement.
Singing in the same tune the Congress legislature Party leader in Haryana Kiran Chowdhry too has demanded an explanation for the nuisance caused to the public. She has demanded an explanation as to why the schools were closed and why the cremation ground was converted into a parking lot and why patients were denied entry in PGI.
In her statement the former Excise and Taxation Minister said, “What is the need to shut 192 schools in the city despite crucial examination. We want to know why the city residents were not allowed to cremate their dead at the Sector 25 cremation ground and why the senior Congress leaders and party members were detained by the Chandigarh Police.” She asked whether the Prime Minister's visit was above education, deaths and safety of public.
“The BJP Government should apologize to the Kargil war veteran who was not allowed to cremate his young son in Chandigarh at the Sector 25 cremation ground as it was tuned into a parking area and to local Congress leaders who had been locked up by the police. The Government should explain why an old father of a city journalist was detained by the police and the need to take all such steps for PM’s visit," Choudhry stated.