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AAP vs BJP: Will parade Punjab R-Day tableau on Delhi streets, says defiant CM Mann
Accuses state BJP chief Sunil Jakhar of lying that AAP govt had insisted the tableau carry photos of Mann, Kejriwal
In the latest twist to the AAP-BJP faceoff over the Centre rejecting the state’s Republic Day representation, a defiant chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday said the tableau would be paraded on streets of the national capital and stationed at Punjab Bhawan in New Delhi on January 20.
Also read: Photos of Mann, Kejriwal led to rejection of Republic Day tableau: Jakhar
Addressing a press conference in Ludhiana, Mann said: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi is no one to decide which tableau will be allowed in the Republic Day parade. We will station the tableau at Punjab Bhawan on January 20 and will exhibit it on the roads of Delhi.”
On Thursday, Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar had said that the AAP government had insisted that the tableau carry the photos of Mann and AAP national convener Kejriwal, who is the Delhi chief minister, which is why the Centre rejected it.
The CM countered Jakhar’s allegation, saying if he can prove that pictures of Kejriwal and him were proposed on the Punjab tableau, he (Mann) would quit politics. “Jakhar is new to the BJP, so he is still learning how to lie,” he said.
Mann evaded a reply when asked about the AAP allying with the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections.
Mann was speaking to the media after convening a meeting of MLAs and officers to discuss developmental projects in Ludhiana.
In keeping with the AAP government’s populist schemes, he said: “Everyone who wants an electricity connection will get it irrespective of the applicant residing in an illegal colony or not.”
The chief minister said Punjab is the first state to set up a helpline counter at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, to facilitate the travel of non resident Indians (NRIs). The officials will take care issues related to tickets, hotel bookings, and missing luggage of NRIs, he added.
