India News | Congress Should Sack Channi for PM Security Breach: Himanta

Guwahati, Jan 7 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said the Congress should sack Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi over the security lapse during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Ferozepur.

Sarma also said Congress President Sonial Gandhi and her son Rahul are “protectees” and dependent on non-Congress ruled states' security apparatus whenever they visit such places.

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"No bad precedent should be created. If that has happened, then the party seniors must censure that person.

"Today, I am very very surprised that knowing the same vulnerability of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, they should have been the first to criticise or censure the Punjab chief minister," Sarma told reporters here.

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In a "massive security breach" on Wednesday, the prime minister's convoy was stranded on a flyover due to a blockade by protesters in Ferozepur, after which he returned from poll-bound Punjab without attending the planned events, including a rally.

"I don't know why they (Sonia and Rahul Gandhi) are playing this dangerous game… I am not giving them a warning. If they come to Assam, we will ensure full security,” Sarma said.

Asked what action the Grand Old Party should have taken, Sarma, once a Congress leader, said it should have sacked Channi.

"If at all they don't want to sack him for political reasons, then they should have at least distanced themselves from what happened in Punjab. By not even doing that, they are trying to institutionalise this kind of activity.

"And if such incidents are institutionalised, then our polity will be finished. There will be no democracy in this country. So, on protectee or protection, we should not play politics," he added.

Sarma also said what happened in Punjab has raised eyebrows and an inquiry will reveal whether "some international conspiracy" was behind it.

"But my primary point, I am a little surprised…how the DGP and chief secretary disappeared from the cavalcade? It never happens. So, it is a clear violation of the rule book, a clear violation of the SPG Act. Now, whether it is intentional or not intentional, it is a matter of inquiry," he said.

(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)