City BJP president Jatinder Pal Malhotra kicked up a row over his alleged statement against the Punjabi community during his address at a sports function.
While Malhotra claimed his comments were misinterpreted, leaders of the opposition parties, along with BJP’s former Senior Deputy Mayor and councillor Kuljit Singh Sandhu, condemned the statement and sought his resignation from the party president’s post.
Sandhu, a BJP councillor from ward number 14, in a video released on the social media, said Malhotra’s statement was shameful. He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take immediate notice of the matter and sought Malhotra’s resignation.
Malhotra claimed that the Congress deliberately twisted and misrepresented his remarks in an attempt to mislead people. He said he himself belonged to the Punjab and had immense respect for the state and each Punjabi. He said the video being circulated by the Congress did not show the complete context of his statement. He explained that the controversial term was not used for any individual, community or Punjabi society, but rather in reference to himself.
He said some office-bearers of the BJP Sports Cell wanted to organise a small sporting event for children in the city. However, he expanded that initiative into a grand city-wide sports festival, ensuring the participation of more than 3,000 children. The expression was used in that emotional and self-reflective context, which had been maliciously edited and presented out of context.
He alleged that Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring deliberately promoted an incomplete clip of his statement to divert public attention from a controversial video involving one of his close associates. “It is a political conspiracy,” he said.
City Congress president HS Lucky said Malhotra should apologise and withdraw the statement. Many Congress workers led by councillor Sachin Galav held a protest outside the BJP office in the city.
Charanjit Singh Villy, president of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Chandigarh, too condemned such a statement from a leader holding a responsible position. He said Malhotra should immediately issue an unconditional apology to the people of Chandigarh and Punjab for his “highly unfortunate and derogatory remarks”.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Chandigarh, asked the BJP to immediately remove Malhotra from the post for his alleged derogatory remarks against Punjabis. It warned of gheraoing the BJP office and launching a public movement if the party did not take appropriate action against him within 24 hours.
