'Amritsar nearest international airport': BJP on Punjab CM Mann's 'defame Punjab' claim over deportation flight

"The BJP-led Centre always discriminates against Punjab. It does not let go of any chance of defaming Punjab," alleged Mann. "As part of a conspiracy, they are trying to defame Punjab and Punjabis."

Hitting back at Mann, BJP leader Tarun Chugh said on Saturday, "Bhagwant Mann sahab, people of Punjab want to know how the innocent youths went out, why they had to go, who were those who spoiled their lives. Why they had to go adopting illegal routes, who sent them, and who were the fraudulent agents who spoiled their lives."

"The youths were forced to sell their land, houses. Rather than catching the culprits and acting against those who spoiled the lives of these youths, the 'AAP-da' party leader is doing politics over the issue," Chugh, who is also BJP's general secretary, said.

BJP's national spokesperson R P Singh also took a dig at Mann, and told him to stop politicising the issue.

"Amritsar is the closest international airport for flights entering India from the US. That's why the plane carrying illegal immigrants is landing there. Stop politicising the issue and promoting conspiracy theories due to your lack of knowledge.@BhagwantMann," Singh said in a post on X.

The flight from the US is expected to land at the Amritsar airport around 10 pm on Saturday, official sources said. Among the 119 deportees, 100 are from Punjab and Haryana alone.

While 67 are from Punjab, 33 are from Haryana, eight from Gujarat, three from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Goa, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

A third plane carrying 157 deportees is also expected to land on February 16, official sources said.

On February 5, a US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal Indian immigrants landed at the Amritsar airport. Of them, 33 each were from Haryana and Gujarat, and 30 from Punjab.