Chandigarh, Oct 25 (PTI) Punjab BJP chief Kewal Singh Dhillon on Sunday slammed Arvind Kejriwal over the NHRC notice to the state government in connection with the pilgrim buses, accusing him of making false statements and turning a safety issue into political one.
Kejriwal on Saturday lashed out at the BJP-led Centre, alleging that the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) inspected super deluxe buses ferrying elderly pilgrims under the Punjab government’s Mukh Mantri Tirath Yatra scheme.
Kejriwal claimed that the attempt was made to stop the Bhagwant Mann government’s scheme for senior citizens, questioning why the human rights body inspected buses and whether it had ever carried out similar checks on roadways buses in any other state.
BJP leader Dhillon asked the AAP national convener why he is turning the NHRC notice regarding safety issues involving buses operating under the state government scheme into a political issue.
Under the scheme, the Mann government facilitates yatra for elderly residents of Punjab to Amritsar, Sri Anandpur Sahib, Sri Kiratpur Sahib, Mata Naina Devi Temple, Haridwar-Rishikesh, Mathura-Vrindavan, Salasar Balaji Dham and Sri Khatu Shyam Ji. The entire ‘tirth yatra’ is free of charge.
Dhillon said that the NHRC had taken action against 1,000 buses across the country over the past year due to incidents of fires involving sleeper buses.
Such incidents have been occurring repeatedly, resulting in the loss of lives. Linking this action exclusively to Punjab is nothing but an outright falsehood, he said in a statement here.
Dhillon said in January, the Punjab government had informed the NHRC that no sleeper buses were registered in the state. “This means that all the buses operating under the pilgrimage scheme in Punjab are private buses brought in from other states,” he claimed.
Making false statements was a habit of Kejriwal, he alleged.
“Before accusing anyone of attempting to discontinue the pilgrimage scheme in Punjab, Kejriwal should clarify whether the scheme in Delhi was discontinued after the BJP formed the government there. Kejriwal must answer this question first”, Dhillon said. PTI CHS AMJ
AMJ
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