Vigilance Bureau advances summons to Channi from April 20 to April 14, hours after ex-Punjab CM attacks govt over ‘anti-Dalit’ stance

Deepkamal Kaur

Jalandhar, April 13

Barely hours after former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi attacked the AAP government in poll-bound Jalandhar citing various points on which it had failed to meet the expectations of the Dalit community, the Vigilance Bureau chose to advance summons issued against him from April 20 to 14.

The VB had initially summoned him for April 12, but Channi had sought that it be delayed to April 20 or 21. The VB had then revised the orders and asked him to appear in Mohali office on April 20. But after he addressed the media and lambasted the government on issues ranging from law and order, farming, Akal Takht matters, atta-dal scheme to sand mining, the VB issued fresh summons for April 14 (tomorrow).

While the Congress leadership had already been alleging that the timing of his summons was to stop him from campaigning for the party’s candidate for Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll, Leader of Opposition Partap Bajwa said the party would take it up with the Election Commission.

“We already were suspecting that the government would use all tactics to stop Congress leaders from campaigning. But after what has happened today, we are writing to the ECI to ask the government to issue all such summons after May 10,” he said.

Addressing the media at the residence of Congress candidate Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary, Channi tried to touch the nerve of the dominating SC community in favour of the Congress.

Accompanied by Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and AICC Punjab incharge Harish Chaudhary, Channi, who was the first CM from the Dalit community, said, “AAP supremo and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal had announced that they will appoint a Deputy CM from Dalit community. After 13 months of their rule, he owes an explanation to the people of Punjab as to what stops him from appointing a Dalit Deputy CM.”

Channi’s second attack was over no headway on the Congress government’s proposal to build a panorama on the life story of Bhagwan Valmik in Amritsar for Rs 100 crore. “My government had sanctioned Rs 25 crore to build a research centre in the name of Guru Ravi Dass in association with Dera Sachkhand Ballan but the government took the grant back as soon as it came to power. Since the bypoll had to be conducted, they quickly came to return this grant under sheer compulsion,” he ridiculed.

“I want to ask the AAP government what enmity it has with the Dalit community as it had stopped these projects. I had proposed to give Rs 100 crore to construct Dr BR Ambedkar museum at IKG Punjab Technical University. The AAP government halted this project as well,” said the former CM.

Channi said the Punjab Advocate General’s office appointed 150 lawyers. “After we objected that no reservation policy had been followed, they submitted in the High Court that there are no capable lawyers from Dalit community. They advertised for 58 lawyers from reserve category last year, yet no appointment has been made from the nearly 350 candidates who had applied. They are using the photos of Dr BR Ambedkar only to garner votes but are not following his ideology,” said the former CM announcing that one-hour silence would be observed by the Congress at Dr Ambedkar Chowk tomorrow in Jalandhar over such matters.

He said he had launched the ‘Mera Ghar Mere Naam’ scheme to give ownership rights to people living in houses within the ‘lal lakir’ of villages and cities. “But look at the AAP government. They bulldozed the houses of people in Latifpura locality of Jalandhar and made them shelterless overnight.”