‘Canadian minister Khalistani sympathiser, won’t meet him’
Dubbing Canadian defence minister Harjit Singh Sajjan a “Khalistani sympathiser”, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said he will not meet the Indo-canadian leader during his expected visit to India later this month.
“Harjit Sajjan is a Khalistani sympathiser,”amarinder alleged at the ‘Off the Cuff’ TV show by Shekhar Gupta. The chief minister claimed that there were, in fact, five ministers in the Justin Trudeau government who were Khalistani sympathisers and he would not have any truck with them. “They had prevailed upon the government to prevent my entry into Canada, where I wanted to go to meet my Punjabi brethren and not to campaign for elections ”hewasquotedassay after the programme.
Amarinder, whose poll campaign in Canada was stalled last year in the run-up to the Punjab assembly elections, had responded by accusing some Canadian ministers of having “Khalistani leanings” then too. The Canadian defence minister is expected to travel to India this month in his first visit since his appointment as minister
ON BANS
Amarinder was candid on other he said people had the right to, and should be allowed to, eat whatever they wanted.
The CM also said he was not in favour of a ban on Pakistani artistes, and said he would be happy to invite them to Punjab and would also love to visit Pakistan. “It ‘s time to mend fences and make friends with Pakistan,” he said, urging New Delhi to be wary of China .
ON RAHUL
As for his party, seeing a “deliberate malicious attempt” by vested interests to pull down Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Amarinder also urged the people to give him (Rahul) a chance. There is a clear conspiracy against Rahul who is being targeted with ridiculous names, he said. Captain said that he had always found Rahul “extremely perceptive” and willing to listen, besides being open to suggestions
A 13-member delegation of opposition parties, led by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, met President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday to express concern over the alleged tampering of electronic voting machines (EVMS), incidents of attacks by cow vigilantes and attempts to “muzzle the voices of dissent”.
The delegation also sought the President’s intervention in protecting India’s constitutional democracy, preserve its plurality and diversity, safeguard fundamental rights that are constitutionally guaranteed to the citizens of the country and ensure that the rule of law is upheld in letter and spirit.
The meeting with President came two days after the opposition leaders had approached the election commission in seeking reintroduction of the old ballot paper system in all future polls in view of the allegations of tamper bly elections. “During our meeting, we suggested alternatives to EVMS as the nation has lost faith in these. Allegations of EVM tampering have raised questions on electoral process. Democracy cannot function if such doubts are not put to rest,” senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters after the meeting.
The delegation also included former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Congress vice presi ers of the Janata Dal (United), CPM, CPI, DMK, NCP, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). “We also brought to the President’s attention how the voice of the opposition is being suppressed. An environment of fear and insecurity is prevailing across the nation. People are taking law into their own hands,” Azad said.
Senior Congress leader and former law minister M Veerappa party’s stand on the EVM issue, was a signatory to the memorandum. “In fact, he was a part of the delegation that met the President today, and had twice read the draft memorandum,” Azad said.
The Congress party distanced itself with Moily’s reported remark that the EVMS cannot be tampered with, calling it his “personal opinion”.
The delegation told the President that critical appointments have been made “arbitrarily bypassing Parliament and other institutions” and that key legislations are being “disguised” as Money Bills “to bypass and undermine” the Constitutional position of the Rajya Sabha.
Azad said the states ruled by non-bjp parties “are being destabilised by misusing the powers of Governors and artificial majority is cobbled up by unethical means” and cited the examples of Goa and Manipur in this regard.
He said all central agencies are being used to harass leaders of opposition parties particularly