Won't let UP, Bihar, Delhi 'de bhaiye', who have come here to rule, enter Punjab: CM Channi
Chandigarh, Feb 16: Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi has courted controversy during a poll rally by asking people not to let the "bhaiyas" of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi enter the state, a remark apparently aimed at AAP leaders.
The word "bhaiyas" in reference to people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is generally considered offensive.
In a video circulating on social media, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was seen beside Channi clapping when he made the remarks during a roadshow in Rupnagar on Tuesday.
"Priyanka Gandhi is the daughter-in-law of Punjab. Will not let the 'Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi de bhaiye', who have come here to rule, enter the state," the incumbent chief minister of Punjab said.
His remark was met with criticism by the Aam Aadmi Party.
AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal termed his Punjab counterpart's comments "very shameful".
"We strongly condemn the wrong comments made against any individual or any particular community," he replied when asked during a press conference to comment on Channi's remark.
Kejriwal added that Channi had earlier taunted him over his skin complexion, calling him 'kala (dark)'. When Bhagwant Mann said Priyanka Gandhi also belongs to Uttar Pradesh, Kejriwal said she too is then a "bhaiya".
BJP leader Tejasvi Surya shared the video of Channi on Twitter and targeted Priyanka Gandhi Vadra over this.
"Priyanka Vadra Ji calls herself a daughter of Uttar Pradesh when she visits the state and claps when people of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are insulted in Punjab. This is her double character and face as well," Surya said.
प्रियंका वाड्रा जी उत्तर प्रदेश में आ कर अपने को यूपी की बेटी बताती है और पंजाब में उत्तर प्रदेश-बिहार के लोगो के अपमान पर ताली बजाती है , ये ही इनका दोहरा चरित्र है और चेहरा भी । pic.twitter.com/IJN4W0wmBV
— Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) February 16, 2022
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
