Punjab should not be ruled from Delhi, Rahul Gandhi tells Mann

Hoshiarpur (Punjab): Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday asked Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann not to succumb under the pressure of his party leader and Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, "who was running the state through remote control".

In his public address in this Punjab town, Gandhi said, "Punjab should not be ruled from Delhi, it should be ruled from Punjab only."

"I want to tell Bhagwant Mann that you are the Chief Minister of Punjab and Punjab should be run from Punjab. Bhagwant Mann should not succumb under the pressure of Kejriwal," Gandhi said without mincing words.

After finishing his speech, he again came on the mike to stress that "when the Congress was at the helm in Punjab, it follow the practice that Punjab should be run from here".

Gandhi on Monday resumed the evening leg of Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kharal Kalan in Adampur. In the morning, he started from Jalandhar, and after passing through Adampur, reached Hoshiarpur by the end of the day. The Yatra was suspended for 30 hours due to the demise of the sitting Jalandhar Lok Sabha MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary on Saturday.

Cricketer-turned-politician and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu's wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu joined the evening leg of Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Navjot Singh Sidhu is currently lodged in Patiala Central Jail where he is undergoing one-year imprisonment in a road rage case dating back to 1988.

Sharing his experience of the Punjab leg of foot march, Gandhi, on his Facebook post, wrote: "Even nature's gifts must be nurtured and worked upon for them to yield benefits.

"It is the tapasya of the people of Punjab that has turned this land of great opportunity into a land of prosperity, over time. As I walk through this remarkable state, every heart I connect with has a common story to tell, a story of relentless efforts to put at the country's interests, a story of true love for India."