After the Centre denied political clearance to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for his scheduled visit to the Paris Olympics, permission for Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan to join a felicitation program in the US has also been turned down. Sandhwan was scheduled to chair a conference meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, from August 4 to August 7, during which he was to attend a meeting of Speakers of Legislative Bodies. Nevertheless, while still on the Web, he got an e-mail notifying him that political clearance for his travel could not be provided.
Scrutinizing the denial, Sandhwan said that he had likewise requested permission from Speakers from opposition-ruled states of Karnataka, Kerala, and Himachal, compared to Mann’s request and his own, which were turned down. This has given rise to some political explanations as to why the Centre has come up with such a decision.
It had denied prior clearance to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, having a diplomatic passport, to visit Paris from August 3-9. In his intended self-observations, Mann planned to support the Indian hockey team in their quarter-final game on August 4. The stated excuse offered was the inability to obtain the right type of security at relatively short notice for his category of Z-Plus security protectee.
According to a source in the Punjab Government, the decision was communicated to the CM office late Friday evening. The matters related to political clearance of the senior political leaders visiting any foreign country fall under the remit of the Ministry of External Affairs.
AAP Alleges Centre
This action is going on after the relations between the AAP government in Punjab and the BJP-led Centre have turned sour. The AAP government has also alleged that the Centre is withholding the required funds and claimed that they had not received the funds for rural development, mandis development, Samagra Shiksha, some health projects, etc.
On the other hand, Chief Minister Mann has welcomed the victory of the Indian hockey team by thrashing Australia in the Paris Olympics.
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