Congress distances itself from Jalandhar MP Charanjit Channi's 'remarks on Amritpal'

New Delhi, July 25

The Congress on Thursday said views expressed by its MP Charanjit Singh Channi “on Amritpal Singh” are his own and do not reflect in any way the position of the party.

The Opposition party’s reaction came after Channi said the detention of an elected MP under the NSA was part of an “undeclared emergency” by the Centre, drawing a sharp response from the BJP that pointed out that he was referring to jailed pro-Khalistan activist Amritpal Singh.

“The views expressed by Charanjit Singh Channi, MP on Amritpal Singh are his own, and do not reflect in any way the position of the Indian National Congress,” Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.

During a debate in Lok Sabha, the former Punjab chief minister referred to the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections and said, “This is also an emergency that a Member of Parliament elected by 20 lakh people in Punjab has been detained under the NSA (National Security Act) … He is unable to speak about his constituency here (in Parliament). This is also an emergency.”

While Channi did not name anyone, BJP leaders said he was speaking about Amritpal Singh. Singh won the Khadoor Sahib constituency by a margin of around 2 lakh votes in this year’s Lok Sabha polls.

In a post on X, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said the Congress must answer whether the party was in support of the idea of Khalistan that led to the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1984.

Channi blamed the central government for an “undeclared emergency” in the country even as a heated exchange with BJP’s Ravneet Singh Bittu during a debate in Lok Sabha led to a brief adjournment in the proceedings.