Manish Tewari slams Punjab government for not challenging centre over BSF jurisdiction row

New Delhi, Nov 8: Congress leader Manish Tewari has put the party in an embarrassing situation by questioning Charanjit Singh Channi's Punjab government for not challenging the Centre's Border Security Force (BSF) notification which extended its jurisdiction in the border states including Punjab.

"It has been close to a month now Central Govt by notification has extended @BSF_India operational remit in Punjab to 50 Kilometres.Why till now notification has not been challenged by @PunjabGovtIndia under Article 131 in Supreme Court of India Is opposition to it mere tokenism?. [sic]" Tewari tweeted on Monday.

Last month, the Union government amended the BSF Act to authorise the force to undertake search, seizure and arrest within a 50 km stretch, up from the existing 15 km, from the international border in Punjab, West Bengal and Assam.

Earlier, The BSF was only empowered to take action up to fifteen kilometers in the states of Punjab, West Bengal, and Assam, but now it has been authorised to extend its jurisdiction up to 50 km without any hurdle or permission either from central or state governments.

In the five northeastern states-- Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, and Meghalaya, the BSF's jurisdiction has been brought down to 20 km from 80 km.

Similarly in Gujarat, the BSF's jurisdiction has been cut short to 50 km from 80 km. In Rajasthan, the BSF's area of jurisdiction will remain the same at 50 km.

Coming to Manish Tewari, he had slammed Punjab Congress chief Navjot Sidhu and the then in-charge of the state Harish Rawat over the chaos in the party after Amarinder Singh was forced to resign from the CM's post.