Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi alleged Monday that he was forced to miss Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s rally as he was denied permission to fly because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Jalandhar. “Charanjit Channi is a Chief Minister, he’s not a terrorist that you are stopping him from flying to Hoshiarpur! This is not the way,” a visibly furious Channi said.
The Chief Minister reportedly waited for more than an hour for his helicopter to be cleared for flight as a ‘no-fly zone’ was enforced because of Modi’s visit. Channi, who was taking a chopper from here to Hoshiarpur to attend Rahul Gandhi’s rally, finally returned home from the helipad.
“I was in Una at 11.00 am but suddenly permission to fly (to Hoshiarpur) was denied due to PM Modi’s movement, it was declared a no-fly zone. I was not able to attend Rahul Gandhi’s rally in Hoshiarpur. I had permission to land,” Channi was quoted as telling by news agency ANI.
Though Chief Minister Channi was unable to fly to Hoshiarpur, Rahul’s chopper was allowed to land in the town.
“The Chief Minister was scheduled to come here but it’s shameful that this government cancelled permission for Charanjit Singh Channi to come to Hoshiarpur. If Election Commission doesn’t take cognisance of this, I’ll understand that these polls are a farce, a sham,” said Congress leader Sunil Jakhar.
Modi, who addressed a rally in Jalandhar in his first visit to Punjab since a security breach last month, was quick to hit back. He referred to a similar hold-up in the past to target Gandhi. He said his helicopter was held up in Punjab because ‘Yuvraj (prince)’ was flying to Amritsar.
“I was named PM candidate. I had to visit Pathankot and Himachal to campaign. But my chopper was not allowed to fly to Pathankot because their yuvraj (prince) was also in Amritsar. He was only a Congress MP. The Congress has a habit of not allowing the opposition to work,” Modi said at the Jalandhar rally. It was obvious he was referring to Gandhi.