Channi claims Modi security incident a 'conspiracy' to impose President's rule in Punjab: Report

Referring to the event in which Modi was stranded on a highway for 20 minutes, Channi claimed it was staged due to poor turnout at the rally venue

Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi has claimed a conspiracy to impose President’s Rule in the state, hitting back at the Centre over a security breach that left Prime Minister Narendra Modi stuck on a highway for 20 minutes during his visit on Wednesday.

He claimed that this might be a tactical move by the Centre ahead of the state elections. "It is a deep conspiracy to defame Punjab and Punjabiyat. It is an attempt to vitiate the situation in the state. It is an attempt to impose President's Rule in Punjab," Channi told NDTV.

"They made such a huge allegation on Punjab and Punjabis and portrayed us as killers. We are nationalists. We have fought in several wars for the country and many of us have died in the line of duty. I have already said I would be the first to take a bullet for the Prime Minister. What else should I do? Slash my wrist and bleed out?" Channi was quoted as saying by the news outlet.

Also Read — PM Modi could have been killed with drone or telescopic gun: Giriraj Singh on security breach

Accusing the BJP of propagating a false story, the Punjab and the central governments have launched separate probes into the incident. PM Modi's route was blocked by protesters on his way to a rally in Punjab's Ferozabad by road, after bad weather made air travel unadvisable. After being stranded for around 20 minutes on the road, Modi made his way back to the airport and cancelled the event.

"Where was the threat to his life? Nobody was within a kilometre of you. No stone was thrown, no bullet was fired, no slogans were raised. How can you say 'I made it alive'! Such a sensitive statement from such a big leader. People voted you as Prime Minister - you should make responsible statements. You are saying we want to kill our Prime Minister," Channi was quoted.

Channi also took to Twitter to take a dig at the Prime Minister’s claims. Although he didn’t point the finger at Modi, he aimed a shot at the leader by putting up a photo of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel along with his quotation: “Someone who is concerned more about his life than his duty, should not take a big responsibility in a country like India.”

Also, Channi claimed that the event was cancelled due to poor turnout and the issue was being staged to hide the fact.

"Actually, the PM had intended to turn around after 10 kilometres because 70,000 chairs were put at the venue but not even 700 showed up. All chairs were empty. They felt it was better to make a U-turn. How petty they are! Just to ensure that empty chairs are not shown on TV they made up this new thing - 'the PM is in danger, he survived’... Why are you taking the country on the wrong path? We are nationalists. Every time elections come you suddenly remember nationalism and pretend to be nationalists," Channi was quoted as saying.

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