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Mann govt, Centre blocked Rahul’s border visit: Warring
It was deeply unfortunate that even after 75 years of Independence, a leader was stopped from interacting with border residents, said Warring
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Saturday alleged that the Bhagwant Mann-led state government and the Centre colluded to block Rahul Gandhi’s visit to flood-hit border villages.
Warring, who was here to launch the party’s ‘Sangathan Sirjan Abhiyaan’ to strengthen grassroots organisation, said that on Friday, CM Mann justified the state government’s move to prevent Rahul from meeting residents living along the Ravi river in Gurdaspur.
Rahul had visited the state’s flood-affected areas on September 15 and was stopped from crossing the Ravi river due to security reasons.
“It was deeply unfortunate that even after 75 years of Independence, a leader was stopped from interacting with border residents. What is more unfortunate is that the CM justified this decision on the floor of the House,” Warring remarked. On Friday, Mann, during his speech in the assembly, had said that Rahul was stopped from crossing the river due to strong currents and the place’s closeness to the Pakistan border.
In a separate jibe at the AAP, Warring alleged that the ruling party is also trying to do ‘vote chori’ in Punjab. “Congress has dedicated 2025 to strengthening its organisation from the grassroots—covering district, block, and booth levels,” he added.
Reacting to Warrring’s charges on stopping Rahul and ‘vote chori’, AAP spokesperson Neel Garg said Congress was trying to gain political mileage out of it.
“The reality is that Rahul was stopped due to security concerns by the police. The flow of water was too strong at that time. Regarding the vote chori allegations, AAP is also a victim of Vote Chori and will make sure that the BJP does not tamper with the voter lists in Punjab,” he said.
Cheema slams Cong for doing ‘politics’ over floods
Chandigarh Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Congress, accusing it of “shamelessly playing politics” over the recent floods in the state.
“At a time when the Punjab government, under CM Bhagwant Mann, is working day and night to rehabilitate affected families, the Congress is stooping to new lows by obstructing relief funds and politicising the deaths of innocent people,” he said.
Slamming the Congress for its behaviour in the special state assembly session convened by the AAP government to discuss flood rehabilitation, Cheema said, “Instead of standing with the people of Punjab, the Congress leaders chose to indulge in cheap photo-ops.””In the assembly, they left no stone unturned to politicise the deaths of flood victims for their selfish interests. Their anti-Punjab mindset stood fully exposed yesterday,” he said.The two-day special session of the Punjab Assembly began on Friday.
The minister said while the AAP government has created a dedicated “Rangla Punjab” fund for rebuilding the state, with massive contributions coming in from people across all sections, Congress leaders “shamefully” opposed this fund for flood relief.
“The same Congress that ruined Punjab’s economy for decades is now trying to block every effort to rebuild it. This shows their true mentality towards Punjab and Punjabis,” he alleged.
Cheema also hit out at the BJP, reminding people how it has always “discriminated” against Punjab.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi came late, announced a ‘jumla’ of ₹1,600 crore package, but not a single rupee of it has reached Punjab. Only ₹240 crore, that too from an already budgeted provision, has been released. BJP’s hatred for Punjab is clear, and now the Congress party has joined hands with them in this betrayal,” he claimed. (With PTI inputs)
