Congress distances itself from Charanjit Singh Channi's remark on Amritpal Singh

Channi said that the detention of an elected MP under the NSA was part of an "undeclared emergency" by the Centre

The Congress on Thursday distanced itself from Lok Sabha member Charanjit Singh Channi's remark backing controversial MP Amritpal Singh, saying the former's views don't reflect the position of the party.

Charanjit Singh Channi during the Monsoon session of the Parliament. (PTI)

"The views expressed by Charanjit Singh Channi, MP on Amritpal Singh are his own, and do not reflect in any way the position of the Indian National Congress," wrote senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on X.

Channi said on Thursday that the detention of an elected MP under the NSA was part of an "undeclared emergency" by the Centre, drawing a sharp response from the BJP.

"This is also an emergency that a Member of Parliament elected by 20 lakh people in Punjab has been detained under the NSA (National Security Act) ... He is unable to speak about his constituency here (in Parliament). This is also an emergency," said Channi.

Though Channi didn't name anyone, the BJP claimed he was speaking about the controversial Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh, who won the Lok Sabha elections from Punjab's Khadoor Sahib constituency by a margin of around 2 lakh votes.

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla slammed Channi, saying the idea of Khalistan was behind the murder of Rahul Gandhi's grandmother, late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

"Batting for separatist who wants tukde tukde of India? Rahul ji must answer - the idea of Khalistan that caused the assassination of PM Indira ji is being hailed !! Why does Congress always bat for separatists and terrorists? Yakub, Afzal, 26/11 jihadis, now K terrorists?" he said.

Union minister Giriraj Singh said Congress MP Channi's remarks were "unfortunate".

"The Khalistani who assassinated Indira Gandhi has received open support from Channi today, which means the Congress is siding with the Khalistanis. This is an attack on the integrity of India...what can I say, I will say action should be taken," he said.

Meanwhile, BJP MP Dinesh Sharma demanded that Channi be expelled by the Congress.

BJP MP Ravneet Singh Bittu said Charanjit Singh Channi had lately been behaving like a traitor.

With inputs from PTI