Accusing the Centre of misusing central agencies to intimidate him and the Congress party weeks before the state assembly elections, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Wednesday alleged that he was being targeted because of his stand in the issue of security lapse during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to the poll-bound state.
Channi, mincing no words, said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) action on his nephew Bhupinder Singh Honey over a 2018 sand mining case was a ‘conspiracy’ by the Centre to stop the Congress from contesting the assembly elections “and the Cabinet Ministers are being threatened”.
“If the chairs were empty, (at BJP’s Ferozepur rally which Modi was scheduled to address) what is my fault? Why is there a vendetta against me? Had I fired at the protesting farmers then it would have been fine. But I didn’t do it. Now, I am paying up,” he said.
Alleging that Punjabis are being targeted by the Centre, Channi said: “Why are Punjabis being blamed. When no one did anything, no one threw a pebble at the PM or fired any shot. What did the PM mean by his sarcastic ‘Dhanyavad de dena’ (say thanks) remark?”
“Now, attempts are made that our people are not able to contest elections. Relatives are being pressed. Whenever they think it is difficult to win, they let their agencies loose,” said Channi.
Accusing the BJP-led Central Government to frame him through his nephew, the Chief Minister said alleged that his nephew was tortured to take his name. “What I have heard is that they wanted to arrest me last night. The courts were kept open till 6 am...My nephew was tortured to take my name...But when it did not happen, they asked the court to close. I have not met my nephew. We do not even know where he is now. I have been told that those who interrogated him told him that they would not allow us to contest elections,” he added.
Pointing that his nephew was not even named in the 2018 FIR on the basis of which ED has conducted raids, Channi dubbed it as “a planted exercise”.
“They are taking revenge because I stood with Punjab and people of Punjab during the Prime Minister’s visit to Ferozepur. This is vindictive...They are harassing our people and want to spoil our election...This is a conspiracy to suppress us. So many of our people and Ministers are under pressure,” said the Chief Minister, while addressing the media along with Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Cabinet Ministers Brahm Mohindra, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, and Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria.
Channi went on to add that SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia, against whom a case had recently been registered by the Punjab Police under the NDPS Act, and former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh were behind the latest ED raids. “They should have raided my house. Why are they going here and there to reach me,” he said.
Alleging that attempts are being made to stop him from contesting the upcoming assembly elections, Channi said: “We are being forcibly dragged into the case. I hope the people of Punjab will stand with me as I have stood by them during the visit of the Prime Minister. I have been a Minister and MLA but there is no taint on me. But they want to forcibly put a blot on me. I have been told that I will not be allowed to file nomination and contest elections.”
At the same time, Channi appealed to the Election Commission to stop “Centre’s excesses” if they want a fair election. “When my nephew’s name is not there in the FIR, why has he been dragged? The other accused Kudratdeep Singh’s name has been deleted from the FIR as the mine allotted to him did not operate,” he said, adding that Honey became a partner in Kudratdeep Singh’s firm later and the FIR was registered earlier.
Also targeting the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal, Channi said that the Delhi Chief Minister was in cahoots with BJP.
Channi said that the Centre has been using the ED and other agencies whenever they want to win an election by arm-twisting. “They did this in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. They will not be able to do anything in Punjab,” he said.