Ferozepur City Congress MLA Parminder Singh Pinky on Thursday said state police chief Siddharth Chattopadhyaya was directly responsible for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s security breach during his visit to the district on Wednesday.
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Pinky said the Ferozepur episode was a huge embarrassment for the Congress-led Punjab government and the state leadership should have taken immediate corrective measures in national interest.
Modi had to return to Delhi on Wednesday without laying the foundation stone for development projects worth more than ₹42,000 crore after protesters blocked the Ferozepur-Moga highway on which the convoy was moving.
The PM’s security decided not to proceed further on the highway, cancelling his scheduled public address after the foundation stone laying function.
MLA Pinky said Punjab home minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who is also the deputy chief minister, should have worked diligently with the DGP to ensure that the PM’s daylong visit in the state was in order.
“The PMO is not just about an individual but a national institution and it must be protected. Three dynamic leaders Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Beant Singh were assassinated. The security of dignitaries should be handled beyond political courses. It is a matter of shame that the Punjab Police administration failed to provide a safe passage to the PM and heads must roll for the unprecedented lapse,” said the two-time legislator.
{{/usCountry}}“The PMO is not just about an individual but a national institution and it must be protected. Three dynamic leaders Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Beant Singh were assassinated. The security of dignitaries should be handled beyond political courses. It is a matter of shame that the Punjab Police administration failed to provide a safe passage to the PM and heads must roll for the unprecedented lapse,” said the two-time legislator.
{{/usCountry}}Pinky said farm union activists were just holding a peaceful protest on or near the highway as they had a genuine grouse against the Centre and the BJP leadership.
He said the BJP leaders should avoid politicising the security breach as chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi is a sensitive and able administrator.
“When the PM was travelling via road to reach Ferozepur for an official event, it is the duty of the DGP to ensure the motorcade travels without any disruption. The DGP failed to ensure an emergency contingency route if the marked road route had protesters. Being head of the department, the DGP acted in a negligent manner,” he said.