Punjab AAP hits back at Congress over Rahul Gandhi’s remote control remarks

PTI

Chandigarh, January 20

The ruling AAP in Punjab has attacked Rahul Gandhi over his allegation that the government in the state was being remote controlled, saying the Congress used to summon former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi often to Delhi.

On Thursday, Gandhi at a rally in Pathankot had alleged that the Bhagwant Mann government in Punjab was being run with a remote control as he sought to point towards Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha for calling the shots in the state.

Opposition parties in the state have been attacking Mann, claiming that his government is being remote controlled by AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

"Congress' 52-year-old youth @RahulGandhi ji should eat almonds, your memory has become weak!" the AAP's Punjab unit tweeted late Thursday night after Gandhi rally, which was a part of the Congress' Kanyakumari to Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra.

The Gandhi family used to often summon the then chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and he used to go to Delhi, the party said in its tweet in Hindi.

The Punjab Congress on Friday hit back saying, "It is not about the Delhi visits, it is about the fact that people from Delhi have offices in the Punjab secretariat and are dictating terms".

"By the way, what happened to @raghav_chadha appointment letter? Him not getting any post in @PunjabGovtIndia doesn't seem to have stopped him," the party's state unit tweeted.

Gandhi at the Pathankot rally on Thursday had also said that he respects Chief Minister Mann but asked him that Punjab should be run from Punjab only, and not from Delhi.

Referring to his public address in Hoshiarpur earlier this week, Gandhi had said, "I told Bhagwant Mann ji, do not let Punjab be run from a remote control." Mann should not become anyone's remote control and should run the state independently, the Congress leader had said, drawing a sharp reaction from the chief minister.

Mann had told Gandhi that he was made the chief minister by the people and reminded him of the insult inflicted on Amarinder Singh -- a former Congress leader -- by unceremoniously removing him from the post of chief minister of Punjab.