Daijiworld Media Network – Gurdaspur

Gurdaspur, Sep 16: The Congress on Monday accused Punjab Police of preventing party leader Rahul Gandhi from meeting flood-affected villagers across the Ravi river in Gurdaspur district.

Gandhi, who visited Ghonewal village in Amritsar and Gurchak village in Gurdaspur to interact with flood-hit residents, was stopped from entering Toor, a border village across the Ravi river. Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said police cited security reasons.

A video showed Gandhi questioning senior police officials over the restriction. “You are telling me that you cannot keep me safe on Indian territory. That is what you are saying,” Gandhi asked. Pointing towards the village across the river, he added, “Is it not India?”

State Congress leaders, including Warring and MP Sukhjinder Randhawa, accompanied Gandhi during the visit. Former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi termed the move “unfortunate”, stating that medical camps have been running in the village for three days and Gandhi merely wanted to check on the affected families.

Warring questioned the logic of the security concern, saying, “If Rahul Gandhi has a threat from Pakistan in India and we are not safe here, then where are we safe?”

Senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa slammed the AAP government, calling the action “shameful and insensitive”. He alleged the decision was politically motivated to avoid accountability and noted that neither AAP nor BJP leaders had visited the border villages severely impacted by floods.

“These are our people, our fellow Indians. Just because they live near the border does not make them less deserving of help,” Bajwa asserted.