Congress MLA says not allowed inside Punjab Secretariat, CM’s security points finger at CISF

“I was not even going inside the Secretariat in my vehicle. Rather, I was walking from Vidhan Sabha as I have to meet several officers for getting works done in my constituency. When I learnt that the CM will be available in the office, I thought that I will go and meet him also. But the gates of the Secretariat was shut and the security personnel said that I would not be allowed inside,” he said.

CM Mann Friday held several meetings at his second floor office in the Secretariat.

“I asked them for the copy of the order that prevented me from going inside the Secretariat despite being an elected representative. They could not show me any hard copy but said that they had orders from their seniors. I asked them to make me speak to their senior officials. But all that they offered were vague replies,” said Kotli.
The MLA said that he then returned and came back to the secretariat after the CM had left.

The Congress leader said that Mann had told the people of Doaba that he would be meeting them for two days in Jalandhar every week. “How will he meet common people when he is not available for an MLA,” asked Kotli.

In a statement issued later, Kotli said, “CM of Punjab, representing a political party claiming to be ‘Aam,’ is working completely against party’s ideals and embracing VIP culture…It is a shame that power is being blatantly misused by the CM…who needs to remember that he is the servant of the people of Punjab and must act in their interests rather than his own personal interests.”

ADGP (CM Security) AK Pandey, however, said that nobody is stopped from entering the Secretariat when CM is prsent there. “The gates are shut only for 5 minutes when the CM’s vehicle enters the Secretariat. This is not done by the CM’s security but by the CISF personnel, who man the Secretariat. This is the drill and Standard Operating Procedure of CISF ever since then chief minister Beant Singh was assassinated at the Secretariat in 1995. Ever since, during the movement of Punjab CM, the gates of Secretariat are shut and entry is banned for a few minutes. After that the gates are opened. The CISF does not allow anyone to enter during that period,” the senior police officer said.

Media not allowed

Mediapersons are not allowed inside the second floor of Secretariat that houses the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), whenever Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is attending office. This has been happening ever since the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) took over the reins of the state. The mediapersons are asked to leave the second floor when the CM arrives.