2017 Punjab assembly polls: BJP to contest 23 seats, says Prabhat Jha
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will contest on 23 seats in the Punjab assembly polls, said party’s Punjab affairs in-charge Prabhat Jha
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will contest on 23 seats in the Punjab assembly polls, said party’s Punjab affairs in-charge Prabhat Jha.
Speaking on the concluding day of the two-day brainstorming session of the party ahead of assembly polls, Jha said the alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) would continue. “Parkash Singh Badal ji is a humble person and leader of the masses. He is face of the SAD-BJP coalition,” said Jha.
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“There is no confusion. We will contest the polls in alliance with the Akali Dal. There may be exchange of candidates on a couple of seats with the Akali Dal for which the talks are on,” Jha said.
Hoping that the SAD-BJP alliance will form the government for the third consecutive term, Jha said: “We have a target of winning 23 seats and preparations in this regard are on.”
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He also asked the party cadres to apprise voters of the performance of the Narendra Modi government. “We are conducting surveys to gauge the party’s popularity in the state and the results are encouraging,” he said. He also asked his party leaders to activate the party rank and file up to the booth level.
He also asked Punjab BJP chief Vijay Sampla to give more time to the state in the wake of upcoming assembly polls and prepare a vision documents for all 23 seats. Sampla said the party would open a centralised poll office soon.
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Party bigger than individual
In an apparent reference to cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Sidhu, who recently resigned as the Rajya Sabha member, Jha said the party was bigger than any personality. “A leader may be very popular, but he is zero without party banner. Anyone who joins party should keep aside his expectations.”
Punjab different from Delhi
In an indirect reference to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Jha said the assembly elections in Delhi and Punjab are different. “They (AAP) formed the government in Delhi by accident and this is not going to happen in Punjab,” he said, adding that the party had been defaming Punjab on the drugs issue.
Raja is minority morcha state chief
Punjab BJP chief Vijay Sampla on Sunday appointed Abdul Kayoom Raja as the state president of the party’s minority morcha. Forty-three-year-old Raja hails from Sangrur and had been state president of the BJP minority morcha twice. Sampla also appointed Shivbir Singh as state president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. Rajan is from Gurdaspur district and his first responsibility was as the mandal president of the BJP youth wing, Behrampur, and then as the district president of the BJP Yuva Morcha, Gurdaspur.