Security Lapses in PM Modi's Punjab Visit: What is the Political Gameplay?

Who is to blame for the security lapses during PM Modi's Punjab visit?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Punjab turned into quite a fiasco with his convoy being stranded on a highway and the PM being forced to cancel his plans and public addresses in the state.

(Photo: The Quint)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Punjab turned into quite a fiasco with his convoy being stranded on a highway and the PM being forced to cancel his plans and public addresses in the state.

What followed was a full-blown political slugfest between the BJP-led Centre and the Congress-led Punjab government.

Shortly after the episode, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a statement accusing the Charanjit Singh Channi government of a lapse in the PM's security. Seeking a detailed report on the matter, Home Minister Amit Shah tweeted, "Such dereliction of security procedure in the Prime Minister’s visit is totally unacceptable and accountability will be fixed."

Other BJP leaders like Smriti Irani also went onto claim that there were "murderous intentions" behind such an oversight.

Former Punjab CM and Congress leader Amarinder Singh, who is now a BJP ally, went a step ahead and asked CM Channi to quit.

While the Punjab government has constituted a high-level committee to investigate into the lapses around the visit, CM Channi, on his part, has denied any breach. Rejecting the allegations that PM Modi's life was in danger, he said, "Narendra Modi is our PM. I would lay down my life to protect him, as a Punjabi."

But how did this visit take such a wild turn? How did PM Modi end up being stranded on a flyover? Who is to blame for the security lapses? And the most important question, given that Punjab is headed to the state elections: is there a political gameplay here?

We'll dive into all these questions and the timeline of the events that led to this fiasco. Our guest for the episode is Aditya Menon, The Quint's political editor.