Janjivan Bureau / New Delhi : When Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed at Bathinda airport on Wednesday morning for the Ferozepur rally, he was scheduled to visit National Martyrs Memorial at Hussainiwala (Ferozepur) via helicopter. Due to rain and poor visibility, the PM waited for about 20 minutes for the weather to clear out.
When weather didn’t improve, it was decided that the PM would visit the National Marytrs Memorial via road, which would have taken more than 2 hours. He proceeded to travel by road after necessary confirmation of security arrangements by the Punjab Police DGP.
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 remained stuck on the flyover for 15-20 minutes. This was a major lapse in the PM’s security.
The PM’s schedule and travel plan were communicated well in advance to the Punjab Government. As per procedure, they have to make necessary arrangements for logistics, security as well as to keep a contingency plan ready. In view of the contingency plan, the Punjab Government had to deploy additional security to secure any movement by road, which was clearly not deployed, claimed a BJP leader.
After this “security lapse”, it was decided that the PM would head back to the Bathinda airport. Taking cognisance of this serious security lapse, the Ministry of Home Affairs has sought a detailed report from the state government and asked it to fix responsibility for the lapse and take strict action.
Meanwhile, BJP president JP Nadda slammed the Punjab Government.
“Fearing a resounding defeat at the hands of the electorate, the Congress Government in Punjab tried all possible tricks to scuttle the Prime Minister,” Nadda alleged in a series of tweets.
Punjab CM Channi refused to get on phone to address matter, state police was instructed to prevent people from attending PM’s rally, alleges Nadda.
