E-Paper
AAP demands Tripura CM’s sacking, tosses curve ball for Dushyant Chautala
Tripura CM Biplab Deb had apologised over his remark with a clarification on Tuesday.
Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has joined the call for Tripura chief minister Biplab Deb’s resignation over his controversial comments alleging members of the Jat and Punjabi communities had inferior intellect compared to the Bengali community. Senior party leader and Delhi minister Kailash Gehlot also asked Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for a clarification on the issue.
Tripura CM Deb had triggered a controversy by claiming that Punjabis and Jats are physically strong but were not mentally as sharp as Bengalis. He yesterday apologised for his comments and stated that he didn’t intend to hurt sentiments of the Jats and Punjabis.
“I ask Dushyant Chautala, you’re also a Jat, if you’re feeble-minded or mad, then how did you become Haryana’s deputy chief minister? Chautala should ask for Tripura CM Biplab Deb’s resignation. We demand Biplab Deb’s resignation. Insult of Jats won’t be tolerated,” said Kailash Gahlot.
Dushyant Chautala’s party is running a coalition government in Haryana with the BJP as the senior partner. AAP has fought elections in Haryana, which has a sizable population of the Jat community.
Gehlot also cited names of some prominent Jat leaders in an attempt to corner the BJP over Deb’s comments.
“BJP goes to nooks and crannies to ask for votes from the Jat community and calls them dim witted and mad after winning elections. I want to ask the BJP if Sir Chotu Ram ji and Chaudhary Charan Singh were intellectually inferior,” Gehlot asked.
Sir Chotu Ram was a leading Jat leader of the pre-independence India who formed the Unionist Party (Zamindara League) with the alliance of Hindu and Muslim agriculturists; Chaudhary Charan Singh was also one of the foremost peasant leaders of the country who served as India’s fifth prime minister.
Also Read: Kejriwal announces scheme to deliver ration at doorstep of card holders in 6-7 months
Biplab Deb’s comments have invited the wrath of several other political formations including the Akali Dal, which is an ally of the BJP in Punjab. Party leader and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee president Manjinder Singh Sirsa had suggested that Deb should step down as chief minister and spend some time enhancing his knowledge about the Sikh community.
On Monday, Congress, too, had hit out at Deb and demanded that the BJP’s central leadership take action against him.
After the backlash, Deb asked for forgiveness in a series of tweets and said that he was proud of the contributions of the Punjabi and Jat communities in the freedom struggle of the country and had many friends among them.
“I had expressed the views some people have about them. I am proud of Punjabi and Jat communities. I have lived among them for quite some time... If my statement has hurt anyone’s feelings, I apologise for that,” the chief minister said on Twitter.
