Bhagwant Mann, the Aam Aadmi Party’s MP from Punjab’s Sangrur, was forced to leave a religious ceremony held for the two men killed in police firing after he was allegedly found drunk by a former granthi.
The two men were killed in police firing during a protest against the alleged desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib when at least 100 pages of the holy book of Sikhs were found strewn near a gurdwara in Bargari in Faridkot district on October 11.
“I found Mann was smelling foul and told him to leave the stage. We are struggling with the case of disrespect to the Guru Granth Sahib and how can a man come drunk on the stage where Guru Granth Sahib Parkash had been done,” Jagtar Singh, the former ceremonial reader of the Guru Granth Sahib at Amritsar’s Darbar Sahib, was quoted as saying by the Indian Express.
“Had I announced this from the stage, the crowd would have attacked him and the whole atmosphere would have become tense. So, I told him to leave at once and he, too, did not argue with us,” he added.
Singh also said that Mann should not be allowed take part in any religious ceremony in future and should apologise.
Mann left the venue in a huff after he was reportedly asked to come down the stage. He was confronted by a few members of the community as he was leaving.
A video of Mann leaving the venue in a huff on Sunday went viral on the social media.
Mann, however, dismissed the allegations as baseless on his Facebook page.
