New Delhi: The Congress has distanced itself from occasion chief Partap Singh Bajwa’s feedback purportedly referring to former prime minister Manmohan Singh as “farzi” (faux) and a “proxy” PM who “brought on hurt” to the folks.
At a rally of the Congress’ ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra in Punjab’s Pathankot Thursday, Bajwa had implored MP and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi to take over as PM if the Congress is voted to energy within the 2024 common elections, as an alternative of appointing a “farzi” or “proxy” PM.
The BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) have since criticised Bajwa’s assertion, calling it an insult to the previous two-term prime minister, additionally a Sikh.
Talking to ThePrint, the Congress in-charge for Punjab, Harish Chaudhary, stated that Bajwa’s feedback had been his personal and never the view of the occasion or that of its Punjab unit.
“The very first thing is that Dr Manmohan Singh was not a proxy PM,” he stated.
“Secondly, Mr Bajwa’s feedback had been his personal and never that of the Punjab unit or the occasion. He (Bajwa) was making his personal request to Rahulji,” he added.
When requested how the All India Congress Committee would take up the problem with Bajwa, who can also be the opposition chief in Punjab, Chaudhary stated these had been “inner issues of the occasion” and it will “not be proper to debate them in public”.
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Suffered due to ‘proxy PM’: Bajwa
On the rally in Pathankot, Bajwa, whereas addressing Rahul who was on stage, stated that he wished the Gandhi scion to usher the “second Inexperienced Revolution” within the state. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was additionally current on stage on the time.
“Rahulji, your nice grandfather (Jawaharlal Nehru) gave Punjab the Bhakra (Nangal Dam) and introduced within the Inexperienced Revolution. We want a second inexperienced revolution. You’ll carry the second inexperienced revolution,” stated Bajwa in Punjabi.
He added: “In 2024, we are going to make you PM. You announce that from right here. It shouldn’t be such that we provide you with victory and also you make another person the PM. We is not going to settle for this. Hear this from us right now, from this stage. You may be PM. We is not going to settle for a farzi one. Earlier some had been introduced in. We is not going to settle for anybody aside from you. You’ll carry a second inexperienced revolution in Punjab.”
A bit later, Chaudhary interrupted Bajwa and requested him to repeat the traces in Hindi.
Bajwa then proceeded to say that he didn’t desire a “proxy PM” and that previously “proxy PMs had completed loads of hurt to the folks”.
Whereas Bajwa didn’t identify Manmohan Singh, it has been assumed in political circles that he was referring to the two-term PM who led successive UPA governments from 2004 to 2009 and 2009 to 2014.
On the time, a standard jibe for Singh was that he was the “proxy PM” whereas then Congress president Sonia Gandhi ran the federal government because the “de facto PM”.
ThePrint contacted Bajwa and Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring by way of calls, Whatsapp calls and messages for a touch upon the identical, however a response was not acquired on the time of publishing this report.
‘Misplaced all sense of propriety to impress bosses’
Bajwa’s feedback led to a political showdown in Punjab’s political circles.
Former Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar, who stop the occasion final yr to change to the BJP, stated that Rahul Gandhi ought to have reprimanded Bajwa on stage for “insulting” the previous PM.
“It appears Congress leaders haven’t learnt classes from the earlier acts of indiscretion dedicated by them in opposition to the honour and dignity of Manmohan Singh whereas he was holding the workplace of the prime minister,” stated Jakhar, who’s now a member of the BJP’s nationwide govt.
Jakhar additional stated the Congress was tarnishing its personal legacy.
“Tough to examine what profit they (Congress) are attempting to attract by strolling 300 km in Punjab simply to tarnish the legacy of their very own choices of selecting a primary minister to steer the nation,” he added.
“Some Congress leaders, of their desperation to win favour with their bosses, appear to have forgotten all sense of propriety,” he additional stated.
In a tweet, Akali chief Sukhbir Singh Badal stated Rahul Gandhi’s silence on Bajwa’s feedback displayed the “anti-Sikh” mentality of the Gandhi household.
Bajwa, in response to Jakhar’s feedback, hit out at his former occasion colleague for raking up the problem.
“No quantity of makes an attempt by Sunil Jakhar and the likes of him within the saffron occasion can derail the Bharat Jodo Yatra by elevating frivolous & insignificant points,” Bajwa stated in a tweet Saturday.
“Jakhar & Capt Amarinder have did not utter even a single phrase on the controversial parole given to Gurmit Ram Rahim who’s convicted of rape & homicide. Their silence on the sexual exploitation of girls wrestlers is equally baffling (sic),” he added.
Within the media, Bajwa was quoted as saying that Jakhar and Amarinder Singh (former Punjab CM and Congress chief, now within the BJP) “hobnobbed with the BJP” to “destabilise the Congress occasion”.
“First double-faced and hypocritical politicians equivalent to Jakhar and the likes of him within the BJP tried to discredit the Bharat Jodo Yatra by elevating insignificant points equivalent to pointing a finger on the color of Rahul Gandhi’s turban. Now the identical folks, after being ruffled by the success of the yatra, don’t need Rahul to be projected because the prime minister,” he added.
Bajwa, nevertheless, neither confirmed nor denied that his remark at Thursday’s rally was directed in direction of Manmohan Singh.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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