The leaders and workers of Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) on Friday staged a protest against Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann over his allegation that the saffron party was behind the twin blasts at Jalandhar and Amritsar on May 5.
The protesters also submitted a written complaint with Jalandhar commissioner of police Dhanpreet Kaur Randhawa, seeking FIR against Mann for his comments against the party.
BJP’s national executive member Manoranjan Kalia said criminal action must be taken against Mann for “making false, inflammatory and defamatory statements, promoting public mischief, communal disharmony and political hostility, and endangering the security and public order of the state”.
In his repeated statements, the chief minister has categorically blamed the BJP for the blasts outside security installations in Jalandhar and Amritsar, besides terming them BJP’s tactics to enter Punjab politics.
“Mann has lowered the reputation of the BJP in the eyes of general public, which amounts to criminal defamation. Apart from Punjab Police, the NIA is also probing the two bomb blasts,” said Kalia, adding that similar protests will be held in Amritsar and Ludhiana on Saturday.
He added that by making these unsubstantiated allegations, the CM was misleading the investigating agencies to divert attention from the actual perpetrators of the crime, thereby obstructing the course of justice and compromising the internal security of Punjab.
{{/usCountry}}He added that by making these unsubstantiated allegations, the CM was misleading the investigating agencies to divert attention from the actual perpetrators of the crime, thereby obstructing the course of justice and compromising the internal security of Punjab.
{{/usCountry}}Kalia said the statements of Mann and DGP Gaurav Yadav on both these incidents were diagonally divergent. “It also shows that the head of the government did not consult the state police chief before issuing the statements,” he said.