A BJP delegation on Thursday marched to the Punjab Police Headquarters here, demanding registration of a sedition case against Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann over his remarks on the recent bomb blasts in Jalandhar and Amritsar.
Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar alleged that Mann’s statement amounted to giving a clean chit to Pakistan’s ISI and had damaged India’s image internationally.
The delegation demanded an investigation into what it termed a conspiracy behind the Chief Minister’s statement and also offered themselves for arrest. Jakhar said that if evidence exists against the BJP, action should be taken, but if not, “the Chief Minister and other AAP leaders should be included in the investigation for making baseless and incendiary statements.”
He said the CM’s remarks were not only dangerous for communal harmony but also seditious. “While Punjab’s DGP claims Pakistan’s ISI is behind the blasts, the Chief Minister is effectively giving Pakistan a clean chit,” he said.
He warned that Pakistan could now use the CM’s video statement in its defence at international forums whenever India raises the issue of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. “This has damaged India’s image internationally and the Chief Minister must be held accountable,” Jakhar said.
He alleged the CM was acting as a pawn in a larger conspiracy orchestrated by AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal to provoke communal tensions and damage state’s social fabric for political gain.
The Punjab BJP chief demanded that if the CM has evidence to back his statement, he should present it, otherwise action must be initiated against him.
Jakhar said the party would write to the Centre seeking an NIA investigation into the CM’s statement.
The BJP leader also drew a parallel with the case of Leader of Opposition Pratap Singh Bajwa, against whom a case was registered over his statement on the blasts. “If a case can be registered and questioning conducted against Bajwa, then the Chief Minister and AAP leaders cannot be above the law,” he said.
BJP working president Ashwani Sharma, MLAs Jangi Lal Mahajan and Manoranjan Kalia, along with senior leaders including Iqbal Singh Lalpura, Tikshan Sood, Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, Kewal Dhillon, Amanjot Kaur Ramoowalia and several others were present, at the police headquarters.
