Chandigarh, Dec 13 (IANS) Former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday said he felt sad and bad about Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi over the way he was being treated by the Congress party.
"I feel sad for him that despite having a tremendous potential, he is being made to be subservient to the whims of the PCC President Navjot Sidhu", Singh said, while remarking, "Channi will eventually end up as a night watchman only".
Reacting to the appointment of Sidhu as the Chairman of the Congress Election Committee for Punjab, with Channi being made to work under him, Amarinder said it was unprecedented that a Chief Minister was made subservient to the PCC president.
"No self respecting leader should accept such humiliation," the former Chief Minister remarked, while suggesting that Channi should resign than face such humiliation and insult.
He pointed out as how the Congress had claimed that it had appointed a Scheduled Caste as the Chief Minister but has now made him subservient to the PCC president. "Was he just a showpiece to get the SC votes?" he asked.
"Just because someone is behaving like a spoilt child and throwing tantrums day in and day out, you are submitting to all his blackmail and in the process insulting and humiliating your Chief Minister, who is doing a good job", he said, while remarking, "the Congress is going down the dumps".
Referring to alleged reports of snooping of prominent citizens using Israeli Pegasus spyware, senior BJP leader and union minister Meenakshi Lekhi on Thursday said that these kinds of stories are concocted, fabricated and have no evidence.
On Wednesday, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal gave permission to the Jantar Mantar demonstration on the condition that a maximum of 200 protesters will be allowed till August 9 between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Sidhu sent an invite, signed by some 62 legislators, through working presidents, Kuljit Singh Nagra and Sangat Singh Gilzian, to the 'sulking' Chief Minister to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
In a statement here, Badal said it was condemnable that the NDA government had targeted Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar and the Bharat Samachar group because they had posed tough questions to the government in keeping with high standards of journalism.
In a written reply to parliamentarian Binoy Viswam in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State (External Affairs) V.A. Muraleedharan said during the unprecedented crisis, the international community came forward with offers of solidarity and assistance for specific medicines and equipment that were not immediately available in the country.
