Opting chartered jet by Punjab CM, Sidhu draws flak

Chandigarh, Sep 21 A day after assuming the charge, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, who said his government was a representative of the poor as he himself pulled a rickshaw in his early life, on Tuesday opted a special chartered jet to reach Delhi from here to meet party leaders.

Channi along with Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Randhawa and state party President Navjot Sidhu travelled in the plane.

In a photo shared by Sidhu on his twitter handle, he wrote, "In line of duty!!"

Responding to the development, opposition party Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) questioned the need to hire the chartered aircraft.

"After saying that they stand with the common man, INC leaders take private jets to travel just 250 km from Chandigarh to Delhi. Are there no normal flights or cars that can be used? Or is this chest thumping aimed at propagation of Gandhi family's Delhi Darbar culture?" SAD said in a tweet.

Chief Minister Channi, the first Dalit who is at the helm, on Monday said his government is of 'aam aadmi' (the common man), honest, free from sand mafias and a representative of the poor.