Elections 2022 Live Updates: With just two days to go for the Punjab polls, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s ‘UP, Bihar de bhaiya’ remark has stirred a political storm. On Friday, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari likened the controversy to the “Black issue in the US”. “It is reflective of an unfortunate systemic and institutionalised social bias against migrants stretching back to the inception of the Green Revolution,” Tewari said in a series of tweets.
However, Channi has claimed that his remarks were “twisted.” He said he was not referring to migrants who come to Punjab for work but to leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed Channi saying, “By such statements, they not only insulted the people of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar but also Guru Ravidas and Guru Gobind Singh. Where was Guru Ravidas, whose birth anniversary was celebrated yesterday, born? Was he born in Punjab? He was born in Uttar Pradesh’s Kashi and you will not let ‘bhaiya’ of UP to enter here. Will you throw out Ravidassias (followers of Guru Ravidas)? Will you erase Sant Ravidas’ name too.”
Meanwhile, days after rebel leader Kumar Vishwas accused Arvind Kejriwal of associating with separatist elements in Punjab, the AAP chief on Friday claimed, “I have come to know that the Prime Minister has got a letter written from Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi seeking an inquiry into Kumar Vishwas’s video.” He added, “Also, I have come to know that an FIR will be lodged against me by the (National Investigative Agency) NIA. All FIRs are welcome…they are calling ‘Bhagat Singh ka chela‘ a terrorist.” In the contentious video, Vishwas accuses Kejriwal of hobnobbing with Khalistani elements. AAP has termed the video malicious.
