Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu aimed a jibe at the BJP over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's security breach, saying he was "troubled" only by a 15-minute wait. The farmers, he said, had to wait for more than a year to get the farm laws scrapped.
The convoy of PM Modi -- who was visiting Punjab after a two-year gap after his government scrapped the farm laws -- was stuck on a flyover in Punjab's Ferozepur Wednesday as farmers blocked the highway nearby. He was forced to return without addressing a political rally in Bathinda where he was headed.
"I want to ask Pradhan Mantri Sahab, our farmer brothers camped at the Delhi borders for over one year... tell me, they stayed there for one and half-year. Your media did not say anything," Mr Sidhu was quoted as saying at a rally by news agency Press Trust of India.
"And yesterday you had to wait for 15 minutes... Why these double standards," he asked.
The farmers had planned a protest meet yesterday after hearing of the BJP rally in Ferozepur.
But they were not allowed to hold the protest, after which they went and squatted on the highway.
Mr Sidhu's party has accused the BJP of enacting a petty political drama over a "so-called breach" in the PM's security. Senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala said the Prime Minister had to cancel his rally in Ferozepur as the event was poorly attended.
Mr Sidhu, too, alleged that the whole event was to divert attention from the low turnout at the Ferozepur rally.
"PM couldn't have addressed empty chairs like shameless Ex -CM Captain (Amarinder Singh). Only way out was to divert media attention to the alleged security threat & save humiliation of addressing 500 people on 70000 chairs," he tweeted.
The BJP has accused the Congress of "murderous intent" and trying to "physically harm" the prime minister.
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