PM Modi with President Ram Nath Kovind (Photo Credit: Twitter)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said such dereliction of the security procedure during the Prime Minister's visit is unacceptable, and accountability would be fixed.
New Delhi: Amid the row over the security breach in Punjab during his visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday (January 6) in the capital and apprised him of Wednesday's developments in the Congress-ruled state. A major security breach or forced the organisers to cancel Modi's Ferozepur rally and other programmes on Wednesday.
Earlier, President Kovind expressed concern over the breach in the Prime Minister's security detail during the visit to Congress-ruled Punjab, where polls are due in the next few weeks.
"President Ram Nath Kovind met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Rashtrapati Bhavan today and received from him a first-hand account of the security breach in his convoy in Punjab yesterday. The President expressed his concerns about the serious lapse," Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a tweet.
The Home Ministry has sought detailed reports from the Punjab government on the lapse.
Former prime minister H D Devegowda termed the episode as unfortunate and cautioned against complacency in protecting the highest official in the country.
The BJP leaders in Punjab met the Punjab governor and demanded the sacking of DGP Sidharth Chattopadhyay and Home Minister Sukhjinder Randhawa.
Meanwhile, the Punjab government has constituted a high-level committee to do a thorough probe into the 'lapses' during the Prime Minister's visit to Ferozepur on Wednesday. A panel comprising Justice Mehtab Singh Gill (retd) and Principal Secretary (Punjab), Home Affairs and Justice Anurag Verma, has been asked to submit its report within three days.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said such dereliction of the security procedure during the Prime Minister's visit is unacceptable, and accountability would be fixed. However, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi denied there was any security lapse or political motive behind it and said his government was ready for an inquiry.
Meanwhile, BJP sources said people and leaders across India are conducting Mahamrityunjaya Jaap for the long life of PM Narendra Modi. Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb will visit Meher Kalibari in Agartala. PM Modi recently made an official visit to Agartala in Tripura and Imphal in Manipur on Tuesday. Sources said BJP leaders, including Arun Singh, Vaijyant Panda and Dushyant Gautam and others, will visit different temples in the capital and join scores of party workers in praying for a healthy and long life for the Prime Minister.
PM Modi, who had to cut short his visit to Ferozepur and return to the Bathinda Airport on Wednesday afternoon due to a security breach en route, had told state officials that they should thank their Chief Minister that he could make it back alive.
"Apne CM ko thanks kehna, ki mein Bathinda airport tak zinda laut paaya (Say thanks to your CM that I was able to return to Bathinda airport alive)," the PM had reportedly told the state government officials.
In a tweet on Wednesday, BJP national president J P Nadda also flayed the Chief Minister. Mr Nadda said, "To make matters worse, Chief Minister Channi refused to get on the phone to either address the matter or solve it. The tactics used by the Congress government in Punjab would pain anyone who believes in democratic principles."
"It's a complete failure of law and order in Punjab. When you can't provide smooth passage to PM of the country and that too just 10 km from the Pakistan border, you have no right to stay in office," former Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh said.
In Delhi, while addressing a press conference, Union Minister Smriti Irani said on Wednesday, "Never before in the history of our country has a state government knowingly constructed a scenario where the PM will be brought to harm. We know Congress hates Modi, but today they tried to harm the Prime Minister of India."
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