BJP, SAD criticise Cong leader Partap Singh Bajwa for ‘farzi’ PM remark

The BJP and the SAD on Friday lambasted senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa, alleging that he referred to former prime minister Manmohan Singh as a "farzi" PM which insulted the Sikhs and the people of Punjab.

Bajwa, the Leader of Opposition in Punjab, during a rally in Pathankot on Thursday had said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should be the party's prime ministerial candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

"We will make you the prime minister in 2024 and nobody else. Announce this decision here. It should not happen that we make you win and you say, make somebody else (the PM), we will not accept it. Only you will be the PM, we will not make any 'farzi' person (PM)," Bajwa had said.

"You will be the candidate of the PM and we will not accept any proxy, please understand this clearly, '' he had told Gandhi during the rally on the last day of the Punjab-leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Reacting to Bajwa's remark, senior BJP leader Sunil Jakhar on Friday said Gandhi should have stopped and snubbed the Congress leader right there on the stage itself for heaping insults on a person of high repute held in admiration by millions of Punjabis and across the world. He said the "denigration" of the former prime minister was disquieting.

It seems Congress leaders have not learnt any lessons from past acts of indiscretion committed by them against the honour and dignity of Dr Manmohan Singh while he was holding the office of the prime minister, Jakhar said in a statement here.

Jakhar, who had last year switched over to the BJP from the Congress, said, "The Congress has scored yet another self-goal in the name of Bharat Jodo by offending all Punjabis with this rude and scornful commentary on a person held in high esteem by every Punjabi." The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) too launched an attack on the Bajwa, saying the way he "insulted" the former PM by referring to him as a "farzi" prime minister has hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community as well as Punjabis at large.

In a statement here, SAD senior leader Prem Singh Chandumajra said Sikhs in Punjab had taken pride at the elevation of Manmohan Singh to the office of the prime minister.

"Dr Manmohan Singh also conducted himself with immense dignity earning him recognition the world over. He cannot be termed 'farzi' by any stretch of imagination but if he is being referred to as that, it indicates that sycophants like Partap Bajwa can go to any extent to please their masters," he said.

Asserting that Bajwa acted in a "shameful" manner by insulting the persona Manmohan Singh, the SAD leader demanded the leader of opposition should apologise for this act immediately and withdraw his statement.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)