Centre Denies Travel Permission To Punjab Chief Minister To Watch Paris Olympics
The Ministry of External Affairs has denied permission to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwat Mann for his travel to the Paris Olympics. The MEA has cited “late request” as a reason for the denial of permission.
Mann had scheduled his visit to Paris from August 3 to 9 to support the Indian hockey team participating in the Olympics. Along with Bhagwat Mann, the 10-member delegation was also included in the visit.
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Mann has alleged that the country’s federal structure was being continuously attacked by the Government of India. Meanwhile, according to other sources, the central government has cited security reasons for not providing security clearance to, those who have a Z-plus security.
As per the PTC News report, the union ministry said, “Paris is exceptionally crowded due to the Olympics. The Punjab Chief Minister requires maximum security because of various threats, and the MHA couldn’t arrange Z security at short notice”.
In response to the cancellation of the permission, Punjab chief minister said, “There were 19 players from Punjab in the Olympics contingent from India. Ten players in the hockey team are from our state. The Indian hockey team have created history by winning a match against Australia in the Olympics after 52 years. My officers were told that they were late in applying for permission. However, it was only after the hockey team cleared initial matched that we could decide to go to cheer them on,” he said, according to the Tribune newspaper.
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Manu also referred to the BJP-led government denying permission to AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal to travel to Singapore in 2022.
Mann had sought travel requests for his wife, Dr Gurpreet Kaur Mann, two aides, and his five security officers from the CMO for travel to Paris.
