Charanjit Singh Channi sparked controversy when he flew to New Delhi on a private jet for a meeting with key Congress officials just days into his stint as chief minister of Punjab. The aircraft was chartered due to an “urgency,” according to the governing party. Punjab Deputy Leader Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Congress Punjab chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, and one of his cousins joined Channi aboard the 16-seater plane. They were on their way to the national capital to meet with Congress’s central leadership on the new Punjab government. Channi was sworn in as Punjab chief minister on Monday after Captain Amarinder Singh quit after months of a power battle within the Punjab Congress.
Sidhu, the head of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), shared a photo of himself with Channi and Randhawa near the private plane on Twitter. “In the line of duty!!” he wrote.
Captain Amarinder Singh’s former media advisor, Raveen Thukral, cracked a joke “That’s incredible. What a ‘gareeban di sarkar’!”
He questioned why he needed a 16-seater plane when the Punjab government’s helicopter would have sufficed. “I’m now starting to feel like I’ve slept walked through the previous four and a half years, believing Punjab was in a budgetary disaster,” Thukral tweeted.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) also slammed the Congress, claiming that its leaders were utilizing private planes “to fly only 250 kilometres from Chandigarh to Delhi” despite claiming to be on the side of the ordinary man.
According to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the private aircraft journey revealed the “true face of Congress and its culture.” AAP MLA Harpal Singh Cheema reminded Chief Minister Charanjit Channi of his previous “tall promises about his government.”
“The state government has no funds for the general public, yet it can afford to charter a private plane. Both the Akali Dal and the Congress are the same “Cheema, who also serves as the Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, said.
According to India Today, Punjab Congress leader Prince Khullar stated that the private plane was leased owing to an “urgency.”
“The Akali Dal leaders must not forget their past actions. There was a pressing need to rent a private jet “According to Prince Khullar.
According to the most recent CAG report, Punjab state’s public debt is expected to exceed Rs 3.73 lakh crores by FY 2024-25.