Madhya Pradesh man arrested in Punjab for trying to damage Ambedkar statue, Channi condemns incident

Chandigarh, Sep 21: Newly-elected Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi has slammed an attempt to destroy a statue of Dr BR Ambedkar in Phillaur town of Jalandhar district. The cops have arrested a 25-year-old man in connection with the case.

The Chief Minister warned the people indulging in such activities of taking exemplary action. This comes after a 25-year-old man from Madhya Pradesh named Bhiku Meena tried to damage a statue by throwing a stone and a flower pot at it on Monday night.

Charanjit Singh Channi called it an unfortunate incident and said that it has hurt the psyche of the people who follow Baba Sahib Ambedkar. He stated that the government will not allow anti-social elements to disturb the peace of the state. The 58-year-old man has already asked the DGP to enhance surveillance in every nook and corner of the state.

Channi further added that the situation in Punjab has always been sensitive as it is a border state but the state government is fully vigilant to deal with it and prepared to eliminate anti-social and anti-national elements that try to disturb the peace.

Soliciting fulsome support and cooperation of the people, Channi urged them to play a proactive role in cementing the ethos of communal harmony, peace and brotherhood to make Punjab the most peaceful and communally harmonious state. PTI

Charanjit Singh Chani took oath as the 16th Chief Minister of Punjab on Monday. He is the first Dalit to hold this post in the state. Whereas Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and OP Soni were sworn in as Punjab Deputy Chief Ministers.

The 79-year-old Amarinder Singh, one of the Congress'' powerful regional satraps, resigned from the post after speaking to the Congress president and shortly before a crucial meeting of the CLP held on Saturday evening.

He had later launched a no-holds-barred attack against Sidhu, describing his bete noire, a cricketer-turned-politician, as a "total disaster".