Bhagwant Mann denies being drunk, BJP wants action against him
Chandigarh/Oct.26, 2015
In a big embarrassment to his party, Aam Aadmi Party leader and Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann was allegedly forced to leave a stage on Friday, during a bhog ceremony of two men killed in police firing, and a former granthi Jagtar Singh has alleged that he was drunk at the time and was smelling foul. However, Bhagwant Mann denying the allegations said that the allegations were totally false and was an attempt to defame him.
The allegations came from a former granth of Darbar Sahib Amritsar, who claimed that he found him smelling foul and told him to leave the state.
“I told him to leave at once and he, too, did not argue with us.” A video of the incident when viral in which he can be seen leaving the state.
“It is a conspiracy against me. One can easily imagine who are the persons behind it. The whole party is pained after the incident and the Delhi Chief Minister also came yesterday to share grief with the families.” says Bhagwant Mann in his statement.
Punjab media has quoted Baljit Singh Daduwal, the Sikh preacher who was managing the stage, saying that he was not aware of the incident: “I am not aware of this incident, it may have happened when I was not on the stage for sometime.”
Bhagwant Mann himself tells a totally different story of his leaving the state. He wrote a detailed note on his facebook page. He said that he decided to left that stage when he found that party’s Punjab Convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur would be the only one speaking on behalf of the AAP. And, the stage host repeatedly announced that there were too many people on stage and it was likely to crash, so those who have already spoken or are not going to speak, should please step down. He also wrote that he was also worried that he was being watched by a few suspicious persons. A few youth even came over to him and asked him why he had not raised the issue of Bapu Surat Singh Khalsa. Since he did not have any security cover, he felt it was prudent to leave the venue.
Meanwhile, BJP has demanded from party chief Arvind Kejriwal to take an exemplary action against Bhagwant Mann for showing disrespect to Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
Tarun Chugh, the national secretary of the BJP, said that it was highly unfortunate that Bhagwant Mann chose to attend the bhog of two Sikhs at Bargari in the presence of Sri Guru Granth Sahib under the influence of liquor. Chugh said that Bhagwant Mann has not only shown disrespect to Guru Granth Sahib and hurt Sikh sentiments but has also conveyed what kind of leadership Kejriwal was imposing on Punjab to grab power in the state. Chugh said that if this was the kind of leadership Kejriwal was trying to provide to Punjab, then people of the state would have to think twice before responding to AAP chief’s calls and appeals.
