Channi in Soup for Saying 'Won't Let UP, Bihar Bhaiyas in Punjab'; Clapping Priyanka Gandhi Makes Oppn See Red

Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Wednesday stoked a controversy when he said he won’t let “UP, Bihar ke bhaiyya” enter the state as a laughing, clapping Priyanka Gandhi Vadra — Congress incharge for UP — stood by him.

At a roadshow in Ropar, Channi — Congress’s chief ministerial pick for the February 20 polls — said Priyanka Gandhi was the daughter-in-law of Punjabis. He added that they would not let the “UP, Bihar ke bhaiyye” enter Punjab and rule the state.

The remark did not go down well with the opposition as Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal called the comment “shameful”. “We strongly condemn comments aimed at any individual or any particular community. Priyanka Gandhi also belongs to UP, so she is also a bhaiya.”

BJP too termed the comment an insult to people from UP and Bihar. The party’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya said Congress wants to divide the people of the country. “When the CM of Punjab insults people of UP, Bihar, Priyanka Vadra stands by him, smiles and applauds. This is how Congress will develop UP and the country? It is making people fight among themselves,” he tweeted in Hindi along with the video of Channi’s speech.

BJP MP Manoj Tiwari took to Twitter to slam Channi and Priyanka Gandhi and asked how the UP incharge would now campaign in the state and ask for votes.

Speaking to News18 at his residence in Lucknow, UP minister Mohsin Raza said: “What else can you expect from people who have earlier also tried to defame our nation? The Punjab CM was insulting people of Uttar Pradesh while the one who has been calling herself as ‘UP Ki Beti’ was standing beside him and clapping. The Punjab CM had even played with the security of our honourable PM.”

He added: “When people clap for a certain statement, it shows that they are supporting it in a way. This makes it clear that Priyanka Vadra was supporting Channi in insulting people of UP and Bihar. People of UP and Bihar respect everyone, we work for the togetherness of the country unlike Congress people who have ‘division’ in their DNA,” said Raza.

Former Deputy CM of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi also slammed Channi saying, “The way @CHARANJITCHANNI has abused & threatened Bihari’s that he will not allow them to enter Punjab is shameful.And most disgusting that @priyankagandhi was clapping in his support. Bihari’s will never forgive Congress.”

Priyanka Gandhi is the general secretary in charge of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh. Her mother Sonia Gandhi is a Lok Sabha MP from UP’s Rae Bareli. Her brother Rahul Gandhi represented the Amethi seat in Lok Sabha until his defeat in 2019. Her father Rajiv Gandhi and grandmother Indira Gandhi were also Lok Sabha MPs from Uttar Pradesh.

Meanwhile, Channi, who replaced Captain Amarinder Singh as the CM in September 2021, became the first CM from the Dalit community in Punjab. Dalits in Punjab constitute around 32 per cent of the state’s nearly 2.8 crore population.

Punjab is going to the polls on February 20 for all 117 seats in a multi-cornered contest between the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and a new alliance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s fledgling outfit Punjab Lok Congress. (PLC).

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