Modi picks ‘bhaiye’ remark to slam Channi: ‘Gurus born in UP, Bihar’

He was addressing a rally in Abohar.

The PM further asked where Guru Gobind Singh was born. “He was born in Patna Sahib in Bihar, and you say you will not let people of Bihar enter. Will you then insult Guru Gobind Singh ji?… Will you insult the land where Guru Gobind Singh was born?”

Addressing a rally in Punjab. Great support for NDA. https://t.co/VYbGnjcgl3

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 17, 2022

In apparent reference to Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who was present when Channi made the remarks during a roadshow in Rupnagar, PM said, “The entire country has seen…Punjab CM made the remark and his leader, who was standing beside him, was clapping”.

Modi said the relationship of Punjab and Punjabis with Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is “deep and sacred” and Channi has insulted that relationship. There is not a single village in Punjab where people from UP and Bihar do not work, he said, asking if Channi will throw everyone out.

“People with such divisive thoughts do not have the right to rule Punjab even for a moment,” he said.

Modu also also attacked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over allegations made by Kumar Vishwas, co-founder of the Aam Aadmi Party, that he (Kejriwal) was resorting to separatist politics to grab power in Punjab.

“AAP can even align with the separatists and anti-nationals. They speak the same language as that of Pakistan. That is why they questioned the valour of our soldiers and doubted the surgical strikes. I warn people of Punjab against the designs of such people who are out to divide the country and push it back into dark days. Their intentions are most dangerous,” PM said.

He said Kejriwal was seeking the votes of Punjabis and Sikhs, but never appointed a Sikh minister in his government during the last eight years that AAP has been in power in Delhi.

Referring to the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission report, he said it was his government which implemented them. “History is witness that the Congress has always betrayed farmers,” Modi said.

Further attacking the Congress government in Punjab, Modi said every trade has been captured by the mafia in the state and nobody was ready to make investments here.

Modi said Punjab needs a government, “which will not only ensure its security but also its economic revival” and only the BJP can provide such government. He said there is a demand in Punjab for a “double engine” government. “Double engine government means speedy progress. It means weeding out sand mafia and drug mafia. It means flourishing of trade, giving jobs and creating new avenues of self-employment,” Modi said.

Those present on the occasion included Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri, BJP state general secretary Subash Sharma, party candidates Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi, Surjit Singh Jiyani and others.

BJP’s Abohar candidate Arun Narang could not attend the rally as he has contracted Covid.