Bathinda/Chandigarh: An appeal to voters Punjab CM Charanjito Singh Channi To lay out “ALL UP, A state in Eastern India And Delhi De Bhai, clapping for approval from “Punjaban” Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, leading his political rivals, on Wednesday described the election pitch as inherently divisive and an insult to the state’s migrant population.
In a video clip of Channi’s speech in Ropar on Tuesday, which has since been going viral, she can be heard saying in Punjabi, “Priyanka Gandhi is the daughter-in-law of Punjab, she belongs to Punjab. All Punjabis should come together to oust those from UP, Bihar and Delhi who come here to rule.
Reservation of jobs for natives is already an emotional election issue, with Congress battling for 100% quota and BJP manifesto promising 75% local reservation in state government vacancies and 50% in private sector has gone.
Delhi CM and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal was the first to attack Channi, terming him as “extremely shameful”.
“This whole country is one. He keeps calling me ‘kaala, kaala’ also. Rahul Gandhi also says that I am a terrorist… Going by my stand, channi Priyanka should not be allowed to come here.
AAP’s CM face Bhagwant Mann also indicated that Priyanka is from UP. “That way, she will also be a ‘bhaiya’… They don’t know what they are saying.”
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and BJP’s national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia lashed out at both the Congress and the AAP, alleging that their aim is to win elections at the cost of national unity and integrity.
Bhatia said Punjab’s first scheduled caste chief minister’s remarks on the “migrant population” were characteristic of the Congress’ strategy of pitting one section of people against another. It is even more shocking that when Channi was making fun of the people of UP and Bihar, Priyanka was laughing.
BSP national president Mayawati tweeted that the people of UP and Punjab should teach a lesson to the Congress. He also urged Bihar to “take seriously” Channi’s “extremely shameful” remarks.
SAD spokesperson Mohit Gupta, who shared the video clip on social media, said he was surprised to see Channi play with Priyanka when he made the comment. Since Priyanka is concentrating on the UP elections, she should have taken cognizance of it and apologized.
As controversy escalates, Channi offers prayers at Ravidas temple in UP’s Varanasi Ravidas Jayanti and interacted with other devotees.
Punjab has a large number of migrants from UP and Bihar, especially in the industrial city of Ludhiana. Every year hordes of workers visit the state for sowing and harvesting of Rabi and Kharif crops. Many have settled permanently in the state and are voters.
Ramesh Prasad, a migrant from Bihar, said that even though the CM had used the word “brother” to denote the leaders of those states, “we have also been portrayed in a bad light”.
The word “Bhai” originated when migrant laborers started coming regularly to work in the fields and factories of Punjab. It is a derivative of the Hindi word “bhaiya (brother)”, used by migrant workers to address each other.
The use of the term in a derogatory sense in political discourse began when the AAP sent an army of observers from Delhi who virtually and subtly controlled the party’s affairs in Punjab ahead of the 2017 elections.
In a video clip of Channi’s speech in Ropar on Tuesday, which has since been going viral, she can be heard saying in Punjabi, “Priyanka Gandhi is the daughter-in-law of Punjab, she belongs to Punjab. All Punjabis should come together to oust those from UP, Bihar and Delhi who come here to rule.
Reservation of jobs for natives is already an emotional election issue, with Congress battling for 100% quota and BJP manifesto promising 75% local reservation in state government vacancies and 50% in private sector has gone.
Delhi CM and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal was the first to attack Channi, terming him as “extremely shameful”.
“This whole country is one. He keeps calling me ‘kaala, kaala’ also. Rahul Gandhi also says that I am a terrorist… Going by my stand, channi Priyanka should not be allowed to come here.
AAP’s CM face Bhagwant Mann also indicated that Priyanka is from UP. “That way, she will also be a ‘bhaiya’… They don’t know what they are saying.”
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and BJP’s national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia lashed out at both the Congress and the AAP, alleging that their aim is to win elections at the cost of national unity and integrity.
Bhatia said Punjab’s first scheduled caste chief minister’s remarks on the “migrant population” were characteristic of the Congress’ strategy of pitting one section of people against another. It is even more shocking that when Channi was making fun of the people of UP and Bihar, Priyanka was laughing.
BSP national president Mayawati tweeted that the people of UP and Punjab should teach a lesson to the Congress. He also urged Bihar to “take seriously” Channi’s “extremely shameful” remarks.
SAD spokesperson Mohit Gupta, who shared the video clip on social media, said he was surprised to see Channi play with Priyanka when he made the comment. Since Priyanka is concentrating on the UP elections, she should have taken cognizance of it and apologized.
As controversy escalates, Channi offers prayers at Ravidas temple in UP’s Varanasi Ravidas Jayanti and interacted with other devotees.
Punjab has a large number of migrants from UP and Bihar, especially in the industrial city of Ludhiana. Every year hordes of workers visit the state for sowing and harvesting of Rabi and Kharif crops. Many have settled permanently in the state and are voters.
Ramesh Prasad, a migrant from Bihar, said that even though the CM had used the word “brother” to denote the leaders of those states, “we have also been portrayed in a bad light”.
The word “Bhai” originated when migrant laborers started coming regularly to work in the fields and factories of Punjab. It is a derivative of the Hindi word “bhaiya (brother)”, used by migrant workers to address each other.
The use of the term in a derogatory sense in political discourse began when the AAP sent an army of observers from Delhi who virtually and subtly controlled the party’s affairs in Punjab ahead of the 2017 elections.
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