Sunil Jakhar slams Punjab after state skips newspaper ad on Indira Gandhi’s death anniversary

Chandigarh: Senior Congress leader Sunil Jakhar on Sunday took a dig at Charanjit Singh Channi-led government in Punjab for allegedly failing to issue newspaper advertisements to remember Indira Gandhi on her death anniversary.

In a tweet, Jakhar tagged a Punjab government advertisement issued last year under the Amarinder Singh-led Congress government to commemorate the former prime minister.

“I can understand BJP trying to erase ‘Iron Lady of India’ from history but don’t we still have a Congress government in Punjab”, Jakhar tweeted.

In another tweet, Jakhar made a veiled allusion to the appointment of Jagdish Tytler as a permanent invitee to the Delhi Congress’ new executive committee and wondered if government’s not issuing an ad to remember Indira had anything to do with it.

Or is it a case of ‘once burned twice shy’ - in light of certain appointment two days ago? Jakhar posted. Tytler was one of the main accused in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi.

PS. I know Capt Saab (Amarinder) won’t mind my using this PB Govt’s ad from last year, as none appeared today, he added in another tweet.

Indira Gandhi was assassinated on this day in 1984 by two of her own security guards.

Opposition parties including BJP and SAD in Punjab have targeted the Channi-led government over Tytler’s appointment.

BJP leader Tarun Chugh on Saturday asked Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Congress’ state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu to clarify if they endorsed Tytler’s appointment as a permanent invitee to the committee.

“Tytler has been named as one of the key Congress leaders in Delhi, but he, Kamal Nath and Sajjan Kumar continue to be the blue-eyed boys of the party in spite of the fact that their role in riots against Sikhs has been always highlighted by many witnesses, Chugh said.

SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema asked Channi to tell Punjabis why he gave his consent for the appointment of Tytler to a “prestigious” Congress panel.

Three days back also, Jakhar had made a cryptic comment when Channi was on a visit to Delhi and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal visited Punjab on the same day.

“Punjab CM in Delhi, Delhi CM in Punjab, yet again! Must say, at least one of them has got his timing right”, Jakhar had tweeted. Kejriwal had responded with a smile icon

Before Congress propped up Channi for the top post, Jakhar was among the front-runners after unceremonious exit of veteran leader Amarinder Singh as the state chief minister.