• Ferozepur visit cancelled because of ‘security lapse’, says Home Ministry

NEW DELHI /NEW YORK (TIP): Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposed event at Ferozepur in Punjab on Wednesday, January 5, had to be cancelled owing to a “security lapse”, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has said. The Prime Minister was scheduled to lay the foundation stones for several projects.

According to a Ministry of Home statement, Prime Minister Modi landed at Bathinda in the morning from where he was to go to the National Martyrs Memorial at Hussainiwala by helicopter. “Due to rain and poor visibility, PM waited for about 20 minutes for the weather to clear out. When the weather didn’t improve, it was decided that he would go by road, which would take more than two hours. He then proceeded to travel by road after confirmation of necessary security arrangements by the Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab,” the statement said, adding, “Around 30 km away from National Martyrs Memorial in Hussainiwala, when the PM’s convoy reached a flyover, it was found that the road was blocked by some protesters. The PM was stuck on the flyover for 15-20 minutes. This was a major lapse in the security of PM.”

The statement noted that the Prime Minister’s schedule and travel plan were communicated well in advance to the State government. “As per procedure, they have to make necessary arrangements for logistics, security as well as keep a contingency plan ready. Also, in view of the contingency plan, Punjab Government has to deploy additional security to secure any movement by road, which was clearly not deployed. After this security lapse, it was decided to head back to Bathinda airport,” it stated.

Punjab Chief Minister Channi, on the hand, said there was no security lapse on the part of the Punjab administration, and that Special Protection Group which is responsible for Prime Minister’s security took sudden decision to go by road, without the advance information to Punjab State authorities responsible for security of VIPs.

Farmers have been opposing Modi’s visit to Ferozepur. Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan), one of the largest farmer outfits in Punjab, was at the forefront of the protest against his visit and its members were seen demonstrating and blocking roads at several places across the State.

Reports came in that huge arrangements were made for Prime Minister’s rally where a gathering of 100,000 was expected, but weather played foul and people just could not make it to the venue, leaving chairs and open spaces around unoccupied, and that was one of the reasons for Prime Minister to get back, in stead of waiting  for the police to clear the roads of protesting farmers and go ahead to address the rally.

Punjab government has since submitted the report to Home Ministry of India. Meanwhile, many BJP leaders have demanded action against the erring Punjab administration officials, and some have gone further and demanded imposition of President’s rule in Punjab, alleging that the present Channi government is not able to maintain law and order, and that fair elections cannot be held with his government in power. The days to come are likely to witness interesting political jugglery, given the fact that Punjab is in no mood to welcome BJP.

(With inputs from PTI)