INDIA VOTES 2024: Statement on Poonch attack distorted, put out of context, says ex-CM Charanjit Singh Channi
Jalandhar, May 19
Former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, the Congress party candidate from Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency, today said he respected the soldiers of the country, has always stood up for them and will continue to do so in future.
Channi’s comments came in the wake of the row over his statement on the Poonch attack being a “set-up”, aimed at benefiting the BJP in the elections. The Punjab Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) had written to the Election Commission of India for action on the issue, terming the comments as violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
Addressing media persons along with ex-servicemen led by Colonel (retd) Balbir Singh and Congress MLA Pargat Singh, among others, Channi said his statement regarding the attack on soldiers in Poonch was distorted.
He said his family members had also served the country by joining the Army.
Channi said as Chief Minister, he had supported the families of martyred soldiers and also provided due support to them. In the statement given by him earlier, he had merely questioned the identity of those who were attacking soldiers near the elections and why no information had come earlier about them, he pointed out.
He said he pays his homage to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country, and reiterated that neither had the Pulwama attackers been exposed nor had information come about those behind the Poonch tragedy.
Channi also said that the Central Government’s Agniveer scheme was disastrous for Army men.
He also questioned the AAP government in state as to why thousands of ex-servicemen who had been recruited through the GOG (Guardians of Governance) scheme during the Congress government, had been sent back, even as their services could have proved vital for the state.
Col (retd) Balbir Singh said he had no doubt that Channi’s statement had been distorted, and that there was no confusion over the former Punjab CM’s stand on soldiers. The soldiers and ex-servicemen have no resentment towards Channi, he emphasised.
