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Amarinder earns Centre’s wrath over Dubai visit Chandigarh, July 11 This is mainly because the Punjab Chief Minister chose to overlook the rules which provide that a Chief Minister can go abroad only after obtaining advance clearance from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) followed by permission from the Prime Minister. Capt Amarinder Singh suddenly left for Dubai on June 18 with many senior officers of the state administration wondering where he had actually gone. He was not available in Patiala, Chandigarh or Delhi. Much after his return, it was stated that he had gone to Dubai to attend the wedding anniversary function of Mr Jagir Singh Kochar, brother-in-law of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee President, Mr Paramjit Singh Sarna. Incidentally, Mr Sarna happens to be a close relation of Mr Ponty Chadha, the region’s dominant liquor baron. Mr Chadha was also in Dubai throughout the 57-hour stay of the Punjab Chief Minister there. Others who accompanied the Chief Minister on the trip were his Media Adviser, Mr Bharat Inder Singh Chahal, and the Superintendent of Police (Security), Mr Khubhi Ram. Mr Sarna later claimed that he organised the visit of the Chief Minister to Dubai and paid for his air tickets. “Besides the wedding anniversary of my brother-in-law and the ring ceremony of another close relative, another reason for organising the trip was to show Capt Amarinder Singh the business empire I have created in Dubai over the years,” said Mr Sarna in a telephone conversation with The Tribune, maintaining that “the Punjab Chief Minister stayed in Dubai for only 57 hours.” He added: “Ponty Chadha is my close relation and decided to join us in Dubai for the functions. There was nothing secret about the Chief Minister’s visit as he attended functions in which eminent members of Indian diaspora in the UAE were present.” In a written statement issued on July 2, two days before the Chief Minister broke his silence on the controversial visit, Mr Sarna said he and his family had been requesting the Chief Minister for some time to visit Dubai to attend some family functions. Even in a written statement Mr Sarna said: “I arranged to send air tickets for him and his attendants only to ensure his presence. In Dubai, the Chief Minister and his attendants stayed at our home.” It is not that the Chief Minister was not aware of the Centre’s mandatory guidelines. His first visit to Pakistan, over a year ago, was a private one to attend the World Punjabi Conference. It was cleared by the MEA and the PMO after some delay. His subsequent visit to Pakistan — this time official — and also to Canada recently were also cleared by both the MEA and the PMO. But in the case of Dubai, he kept the visit secret from his own administration as well as the Central Government. No one even from the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee was aware of his visit to Dubai. On his return from Dubai, the Captain told newsmen at Dera Bassi on July 4 that “as the Chief Minister of the state, I have every right to visit any place in India and abroad.” He maintained that he did not owe any explanation to anybody except his own party and office. He claimed that he had informed the Congress high command and his own office before leaving for Dubai. No spokesman of the Congress in Delhi or in Chandigarh has so far said with whom the Chief Minister had got in touch with before embarking on the visit. The Centre gives clearance to a VIP’s visit abroad after considerations of protocol, the political situation in the country to be visited, bilateral relations and the security of the VIP concerned. The Centre is particularly perturbed over his visit to Dubai as Capt Amarinder Singh happens to be an important government leader who ignored security considerations, more so when he is high on the security risk list. There have been a few instances when Chief Ministers, Deputy Chief Ministers and Cabinet Ministers from various states have been advised by the MEA to postpone their visits abroad to a more convenient time. It is not only Central or state Ministers who require clearance from both the MEA and the PMO for their visits abroad. Members of Parliament, too, are required to get their trips overseas cleared by the Centre. Even in the case of private visits, Members of Parliament are supposed to inform the Central Government about their plans to visit other countries. The Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, has written to all MPs urging them “to keep us informed about your foreign visits, even though such visits may be purely private or as representatives of any organisation without involving foreign hospitality. “In such cases you may just send us your tour programme indicating the dates and places of your visit and your addresses at various places. Apart from enabling us to keep a record of the foreign visits of Members of Parliament, it may be sometimes in the interest of the member himself or herself since an occasion may arise when he or she may have to be contacted for some urgent purpose while abroad,” the letter said. The Central guidelines for Chief Ministers and Cabinet Ministers are more strict.  |
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