Security lapse during PM visit reflection of total collapse of law and order machinery in Punjab – Sukhbir  Badal

(Says infighting in Punjab Congress as well as its policy of vendetta against the SAD had led to breakdown of the chain of command in the Punjab Police)

(Says Punjab Police also politicized with ineligible officer being given charge of State police chief)

Chandigarh, January 5 – Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today said the major security lapse which occurred enroute Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Hussainiwala was reflective of the total collapse of the law and order machinery in Punjab and that chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi was solely to blame for this crisis.

In a statement here, the SAD President said “the incident makes it clear that there is no government whatsoever in the State. The infighting in the Punjab Congress has made the chief minister totally ineffective and the situation has become such that there is no clear command over the law and order machinery. This was witnessed today also with the chief minister and home minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa speaking in two different voices over the same incident”.

Sukhbir Badal said the situation was of the Punjab Congress party’s own making. “In its desperate bid to register false vendetta driven cases against the top SAD leadership the Congress party has wreaked the police force as well as its chain of command. The State has witnessed change of two DGP’s in quick succession besides repeated changes at the top level. The present incumbent – S Chattopadhyay was appointed as the State DGP despite being ineligible for the same. This politicization of the once professional police force under the Congress party is responsible for the current state of affairs”.

Stating that it was now clear that the chief minister was incompetent and incapable of running the State, Badal said  Charanjit Channi did not have any moral right to continue in office. He said it was common knowledge that the rule of the jungle prevailed in the State with no one being safe. “Repeated actions have proved this. However it was at least expected that the Congress government would provide smooth and safe conduct to the Prime Minister during his visit to the State. Its failure to do so has made it clear that it is incapable of ensuring the safety of the common man as well as the peace in the State.