New Punjab BJP working president slams CM Mann over remarks on PM Modi's foreign visits

    Chandigarh, Jul 13 (PTI) Newly appointed Punjab BJP working president Ashwani Sharma on Sunday hit out at Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for his remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign visits, saying the kind of language used by him does not behove the post he holds.
    Taking a swipe at the AAP government in Punjab, he alleged, "for over the past three years, not a government but a circus is running in the state. The chief minister does not have control over his words."     Addressing a gathering of party leaders and workers after taking over the charge, Sharma said, if the chief minister speaks "street language" then he will get a reply in the same coin.
    "We know how to speak in a courteous way, but if that's the kind of language he speaks, then he will get the reply in the same coin," Sharma, the Pathankot MLA, said.
    On the occasion of assuming charge, several prominent party leaders including Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar, Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu, other leaders Manoranjan Kalia, Preneet Kaur, Avinash Rai Khanna, Vijay Sampla, Som Prakash, former ministers Manpreet Badal, Tikshan Sood, Surjit Jayani, Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi were present.
    Sharma thanked his party leadership for entrusting him with the responsibility as the working president.
    In politics, every party, every individual keeps their views before the people, he said, adding that politics is a fight of ideologies, not of personal rivalry or enmity.
    Criticising Mann, he said "such language" comes from a man who is the chief minister of a state and whose father had been a teacher. Such a language does not behove the post which Mann holds, he added.
    He is the chief minister, but he neither has etiquette, nor control over the words he uses or any respect for constitutional institutions, Sharma alleged.
    "A country's prime minister is not just an individual, but the pride of the country. I also condemn what the chief minister said about the Home Minister," he said.
    Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar also took a dig at the AAP dispensation in the state.
    "People need strong leadership, not 'nautanki'," Jakhar said.
    Several BJP leaders have criticised Mann for his recent remarks against Modi's foreign visits.
    The Ministry of External Affairs too had disapproved of the comments, terming them "irresponsible" and "unwarranted".
    Without naming Mann, the MEA had said the government of India "disassociates" itself from remarks made by a "high state authority" that undermined India's ties with friendly countries.
    On Thursday, Mann had criticised Modi for celebrating an honour from a country with a population of just 10,000 while "neglecting" issues faced by 140 crore Indians.
    Despite the MEA's disapproval, Mann on Friday again raised the issue in the Punjab Assembly and said he had the right to question foreign policy.
    Sharma further said, "despite convening a special assembly session on sacrilege issue, it has failed to deliver on Arvind Kejriwal's pre-poll promise of ensuring justice within 30 days in sacrilege cases, including Bargari, through fast-track courts".
    AAP failed to fulfill its key election pledge of eliminating drugs within 30 days of assuming power and launched "Yudh Nashian Virudh" as a diversionary tactic. Drug traffickers are still operating, he charged.
    On the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) issue, Sharma claimed that Mann's government has neglected Punjab's interests by failing to fill the state's quota of 2,550 posts in the management board over the past three years.
    Law and order situation in Punjab has deteriorated, with gangsters operating with impunity, he alleged. Sharma said BJP will raise issues connected to people.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)