Chandigarh: The Central Government has refused political clearance for Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to travel to Paris to support the Indian hockey team at the ongoing Olympic Games, media reports said.

Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan stated he was also denied political clearance to attend a conference of legislative body speakers in the US from August 4 to August 7, news agency PTI reported.

Mann, who holds a diplomatic passport, planned to visit Paris from August 3 to August 9 for the Indian hockey team's quarterfinal match on August 4 and had sought political clearance for the trip.

The Centre denied his request, citing the difficulty of arranging Z-Plus level security on short notice, the PTI report said, citing a source in the Punjab government.

The Chief Minister's Office received this information on Friday evening.

Political clearance for senior leaders travelling abroad is required from the Ministry of External Affairs.

Kultar Sandhwan mentioned he was denied permission to visit Kentucky, USA, for the conference.

He claimed that speakers from opposition-ruled states such as Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala were also denied clearance, while the speaker from Meghalaya was approved.

On Saturday, Bhagwant Mann spoke with Indian men's hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh, congratulating the team on their historic win over Australia at the Olympic Games. Mann expressed his desire to visit Paris to support the team during their quarterfinal match on August 4 but noted that he was unable to go due to the denied clearance.

Harchand Singh Barsat, the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Punjab general secretary, criticized the BJP-led Centre for denying Mann's trip to France, calling it another instance of discrimination against Punjab.

Barsat remarked that preventing AAP leaders from travelling abroad is a recurring issue and highlighted a previous incident where the Narendra Modi government denied Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal permission to visit Singapore to study its education system.