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Will parade Republic Day tableau on Delhi streets, says Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann
Addressing a press conference in Ludhiana, Punjab CM Mann said: “We will station the tableau at Punjab Bhawan on January 20 and will exhibit it on the roads of Delhi.”
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.
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 “facilitation centre” at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, to facilitate the travel of non-resident Indians (NRIs). The officials will take care of issues related to tickets, hotel bookings, and missing luggage of NRIs, he added.
NRI website launched for resolving NRI issues
Mann also launched a new website nri.punjab.gov.in of the NRI affairs department. The website has detailed information pertaining to the NRI police wing, Punjab State Commission for NRIs and NRI sabha.
The CM also announced that the state government will hold five ‘NRI milnis’ in the coming year during the month of February. He said that these milnis will help in quick on-the-spot redressal of the problems being faced by the NRIs.
“I have also seen the many families struggling to bring dead bodies of their members, who lost their lives in foreign lands. We will coordinate with the ministry of foreign affairs to end the suffering of such families,” he added.
Talking about the projects, the CM said that the construction of Rahon Road in Ludhiana, which has been pending for a long time will be completed soon.
“Tenders for the road have been called. The Halwara Airport project will be completed by February 15. Buddha Nullah’s cleaning project is on. The sewerage laying project is on. In every constituency of the state 1,500 LED lights will be installed,” CM said.
