Ferozepur: Amid the ongoing row over security lapse surrounding Narendra Modi’s visit to Punjab, Bhartiya Kisan Union (Krantikari) chief Surjit Singh Phool on Thursday said they thought that the district police chief was “bluffing” when he asked them to vacate the road stating that the Prime Minister was on his way to a rally by the same route.
“We initially thought they were bluffing us. The PM will not come. (If he comes) he will come by air as a helipad was set up there,” Phul told reporters here.
“We never knew that the PM was coming,” he added stating they thought it was a ploy to get the road vacated to allow buses of the BJP workers to pass through for the rally, PTI reported.
Stating the Ferozepur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) told them that Prime Minister Modi was coming, Phul said: “We told him if the PM had to come, will it be known just an hour before his arrival? It was not possible.”
“You (SSP) are bluffing us. We do not trust you and we will not vacate the road. You are lying about the PM visit,” he added sharing his conversation with the district police chief.
Some farmer bodies, including the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee and Bharatiya Kisan Union (Krantikari), had earlier announced to oppose Prime Minister Modi’s visit.
The Prime Minister’s Punjab visit was cut short on Wednesday after a “major security lapse” as he was stranded on a flyover for 20 minutes due to a blockade by the protesters, prompting the Union Home Ministry to seek an immediate report from the state government.
The state government has also been asked to fix responsibility for this lapse and take strict action.
Top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party chief Jagat Prakash Nadda, have lambasted the Congress regime in Punjab post this incident.
“Today’s Congress-made happening in Punjab is a trailer of how this party thinks and functions. Repeated rejections by the people have taken them to the path of insanity. The topmost echelons of the Congress owe an apology to the people of India for what they have done,” Shah tweeted on Wednesday.
“Fearing a resounding defeat at the hands of the electorate, the Congress Government in Punjab tried all possible tricks to scuttle the PM @narendramodi Ji’s programmes in the state,” wrote Nadda on the micro-blogging platform.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi has, however, denied there was any security lapse or political motive behind it and said that his government was ready for an inquiry.
The Chief Minister shared a minute-to-minute programme of the Prime Minister’s visit and said that three helipads were set up at Ferozepur as he was to reach from Bathinda by air.
He said that there was a sudden change in the Prime Minister’s travel plan from Bathinda to Ferozepur, adding everything was handled by the central agencies.