File photo of former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi
Credit: PTI Photo
Chandigarh: The Punjab State Commission for Women sought an inquiry on Monday into a video clip purportedly showing Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi touching the chin of former Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) president Jagir Kaur.
Meanwhile, Kaur came out in support of the former chief minister, saying he touched her chin in a respectful manner.
Taking suo-motu (on its own) notice of the video clip that went viral on social media, the state women commission's chairperson wrote to the Punjab director general of police, asking him to file a status report in this regard by Tuesday.
The commission also said Kaur is a former cabinet minister and former chief of the SGPC, an apex body of gurdwaras.
Channi met Kaur on Friday while filing his nomination papers for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls from Jalandhar. Kaur was accompanying Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate Mohinder Singh Kaypee.
In the clip, Channi is seen holding Kaur's hands and bowing down before her. Then both engaged in a banter during which Channi touched Kaur's chin with his hand. Both leaders and their supporters then burst out laughing.
Channi's political rivals are sharing memes poking fun at him on social media.
Meanwhile, Channi said Kaur is like her elder sister and a motherly figure and added that he bowed down before her when he met her.
Reacting to the development in a Facebook post, Kaur said Channi held her hands with respect and bowed down. He also touched her chin in a respectful manner, she said.
Kaur said social media as well as several television channels removed a certain portion of the video that shows Channi bowing before her but ran the remaining part. She described it as 'full of mischief' and said it was painful for her, her family and her well-wishers.
Phillaur MLA Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary demanded action against Channi, claiming that the former Punjab chief minister's behaviour towards a Sikh woman was 'disrespectful'.
Channi, the Congress's Lok Sabha candidate from Jalandhar, came under fire from various political leaders recently for his 'poll stunt' remark.
He had called the Poonch terror attack, in which an Indian Air Force (IAF) soldier was killed, a 'stunt' aimed at helping the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win the Lok Sabha polls.
A soldier was killed and four were injured as terrorists ambushed an IAF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district last week.
Replying to a question on the attack, Channi had said, 'Yeh stuntbaazi ho rahi hai, hamle nahi ho rahe (These are all stunts, not attacks).' 'Whenever elections are near, such stunts are performed to make the BJP win. There is no truth in it,' he had said.