Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday criticised the referendum remark of leader of the opposition in Punjab assembly Sukhpal Singh Khaira.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, the Punjab CM said, “Referendum is imagination of people abroad. Everybody knows there is no referendum in Punjab.”

“We want peace in Punjab. Peace means stability. Peace means everything should happen normally,” added the Congress leader.

Singh had two days ago taken strong umbrage to Khaira’s comment and demanded that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal clarify his stand on the remarks made by his minister.

Khaira, a leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), had on Friday reportedly said that he supports the Sikh referendum 2020 movement as “Sikhs have the right to demand justice against atrocities suffered by them”.

The Punjab AAP subsequently distanced itself from its leader’s statement.

Terming Khaira’s support for Sikh Referendum 2020 as personal opinion, AAP Punjab unit said on Saturday the party has nothing to do with this statement and threatened to take action against the AAP leader.

In a joint statement, the party’s co-president (Punjab) Dr Balbir Singh and zonal heads said AAP believes in the Indian Constitution, the country’s sovereignty and integrity and does not believe in nor supports any referendum which seeks division of the country.

On Saturday, the Punjab Chief Minister took to Twitter to issue his terse message to Kejriwal along with posters of the referendum which Khaira had supported.

“Mr @ArvindKejriwal I strongly condemn the statement of your LOP @SukhpalKhaira supporting Referendum 2020 that aims for Punjab to secede from the Indian Union,” he wrote.

Read More: APP disowns Khaira’s ‘Referendum 2020’ rant after Punjab CM’s message to Kejriwal

“Please clarify your stand on this & ask your partymen to act responsibly. Do see what this Referendum stands for,” added Singh.

In a statement, the Chief Minister demanded to know whether Khaira’s statement had the backing of the AAP central leadership, led by Arvind Kejriwal, or was he going off on a personal tangent, either out of sheer ignorance or to promote some vested personal interests.

“Punjab and its people had suffered for years due to the secessionist and separatist movement unleashed by the radicals,” pointed out Singh in Chandigarh, adding that Khaira seemed to be completely unmindful of what the state had been through and the dangers of his ill-thought out statement.

“Anyone supporting the controversial referendum, which was clearly designed to destroy India’s harmony, could not be a supporter of the country’s unity,” he said, adding that Khaira’s stand suggested that he stood for India’s dismemberment.