India News | BJP Seizes on Sidhu's Advisors' Comments to Question Congress
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The BJP on Monday hit out at the Congress over controversial comments of two advisors of its Punjab unit president Navjot Singh Sindhu and sought the response of its leader Rahul Gandhi.
New Delhi, Aug 23 (PTI) The BJP on Monday hit out at the Congress over controversial comments of two advisors of its Punjab unit president Navjot Singh Sindhu and sought the response of its leader Rahul Gandhi.
Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri also posted on Twitter a November, 2019 speech of Sidhu in which he had showered praise on Pakistan's prime minister Imran Khan during the opening ceremony of Kartarpur Sahib Corridor and questioned if his advisors have drawn inspiration from his comments.
One of Sidhu's advisors Malvinder Singh Mali had claimed that "Kashmir is a country of Kashmiri people" while another, Pyare Lal Garg, had taken a swipe at Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh for criticising Pakistan.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said, "This is what the advisors of Punjab PCC President Sidhu opine about Pak & Kashmir: Pyare Lal Garg says : “Criticism of Pakistan is not in the interest of Punjab”. Malwinder Mali says : Kashmir is a separate State and India is an illegal occupant. Rahul Gandhi any answers? Shame."
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Puri said, "One wonders if Mr Sidhu's advisers who have now made astounding statements on Kashmir have drawn inspiration from the Japphi-Pappi speech at opening of Sri Kartarpur Sahib Corridor on 9 Nov 2019 in which Mr Sidhu extolled the virtues of his friend PM Imran Khan."
The controversial comments of the two advisors of Sidhu have triggered protest in the Congress as well with Singh and Congress MP Manish Tewari slamming them for their remarks.
The BJP also seized on a Sidhu's tweet about "too low" state assured price (SAP) for sugarcane in Punjab, where his party is in power, compared to BJP-ruled states like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
"The sugarcane farmers issue needs to be immediately resolved amicably …. Strange that despite the higher cost of cultivation in Punjab the state assured price is too low as compared to Haryana / UP / Uttarakhand. As torchbearer of agriculture, the Punjab SAP should be better," he said.
BJP's Amit Malviya said it was good to see that Sidhu admits that BJP governments in UP, Haryana and Uttarakhand are doing lot more for farmers than the Congress-ruled Punjab.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)