New Delhi: The central government has neither rejected nor granted political clearance for Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s visit to the Czech Republic and the Netherlands. The verdict suspended the Punjab CM’s visit to the two European countries.
This is not the first time that the central government scrapped the political clearance of Punjab’s CM’s scheduled visit. In January, Mann failed to secure the political clearance for a visit to the United Kingdom and Israel.
Before the UK visit, during the Paris Olympics, Mann was scheduled to fly to France, but his visit was also denied by the Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
Mann is one of the few political leaders whose political clearance has been denied by the central government, which shows a rift between the Centre and State.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accused the Central government of targeting the opposition-ruled states; that’s why a CM has been denied political clearance for a foreign visit.
In response, Punjab leaders argued that such a limitation would hinder Punjab’s chances of securing investments. The state will not engage internationally on issues like education, especially when other CMs from different states have undertaken foreign visits in the past.
Mann was scheduled to lead the delegation in the UK and the Netherlands to seek investments for Punjab ahead of the Investors Summit scheduled for March.
Punjab CM and the state Industry and Investment Promotion Minister, Sanjay Arora, were scheduled to leave on February 9 for a foreign visit.
All CMs must require political clearance under established protocol from the Ministry of External Affairs for any official overseas visit. While the MEA doesn’t publicly reveal the reasons for cancelling the political clearance or withholding clearance.
With the Punjab CM denying the political clearance for a proposed scheduled foreign visit, the actions add spice between the two factions.