‘MP detained under NSA an emergency’: Channi’s reference to Amritpal Singh

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi said Thursday that the detention of an elected MP under the NSA was part of an “undeclared emergency” by the Centre, drawing a sharp response from the BJP who said he was referring to jailed radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh.

During a debate in Lok Sabha, the former Punjab chief minister referred to the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections and said, “This is also an emergency that a Member of Parliament elected by 20 lakh people in Punjab has been detained under the NSA (National Security Act) …He is unable to speak about his constituency here (in Parliament).This is also an emergency.” While Channi did not name anyone, BJP leaders said he was speaking about Amritpal Singh.

Singh won the Khadoor Sahib constituency by a margin of around 2 lakh votes in this year’s Lok Sabha polls.