Punjab polls: PM Modi said the Congress has a habit of not allowing the opposition to work. (File)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today attacked the Congress and Rahul Gandhi over a 2014 incident in which, he said, his helicopter was held up in Punjab because "Yuvraj (prince)" was flying to Amritsar.
PM Modi said he had gone to Punjab to campaign for the national election, after being named the BJP's presumptive Prime Minister, when the incident took place.
"I was named PM candidate. I had to visit Pathankot and Himachal to campaign. But my chopper was not allowed to fly to Pathankot because their yuvraj (prince) was also in Amritsar. He was only a Congress MP. The Congress has a habit of not allowing the opposition to work," PM Modi said at a rally in Jalandhar, referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
The PM's taunt was significant on a day Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's helicopter was not allowed to take off from Chandigarh, reportedly as a "no-fly zone" had been enforced due to the Prime Minister's visit.
The Chief Minister was flying to Punjab's Hoshiarpur for Rahul Gandhi's poll rally. Rahul Gandhi's chopper was, however, allowed to land in Hoshiarpur.
The Prime Minister also accused the Congress of "humiliating Captain Amarinder Singh" after trying to obstruct his government and run it by remote control.
Amarinder Singh, who was replaced as Chief Minister by the Congress in September, was on stage when PM Modi made the remarks. The former Chief Minister has tied up with the BJP for the Sunday Punjab election.
Referring to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's comments about Amarinder Singh's government "run by remote control" by the central government in Delhi, PM Modi said: "They said we didn't want Captain's government to be run by Delhi. This means Congress governments are run by remote control by one family, not by the constitution."
The Congress is "paying for its misdeeds" now, the Prime Minister said.
"Look at the state of the Congress. Their own party is falling apart. Their own leaders are exposing them. A party with so much infighting - can it give a stable government to Punjab?" PM Modi questioned, apparently hinting at the feud between Chief Minister Channi and Punjab Congress chief Navjot Sidhu.
The Prime Minister was addressing his first rally in Punjab since last month's security lapse, when he was forced to spend 20 minutes on a flyover on his way to a rally because of a blockade by farm protesters.
"I wanted to visit Devi Ka Talab but the Punjab Police said it can't allow it due to security. This is the condition of security in Punjab," PM Modi remarked.