Right time for party to strengthen base in Punjab: Anurag Thakur
Anurag Thakur spoke to HT about his party’s prospects in Punjab, reconciliation with its erstwhile partner Punjab and ongoing protest by wrestlers at Jantar Mantar.
Jalandhar Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) looks all gung-ho about its chances in the high-stakes bypoll to the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat scheduled for May 10. The party launched a massive outreach strategy in the state, inducting a large number of Sikh leaders, and contested the 2022 assembly polls on its own is now looking at the bypoll to test the strength of its cadre. It picked Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal, a Dalit Sikh face as its candidate. Spearheading BJP’s campaign in Jalandhar is Union minister for information and broadcasting Anurag Thakur, who has a long association with the region. On the last day of his campaigning schedule, Thakur spoke to HT about his party’s prospects in Punjab, reconciliation with its erstwhile partner Shiromani Akali Dal and ongoing protest by wrestlers at Jantar Mantar.
Edited Excerpts
What are BJP’s prospects in this bypoll?
There is positivity and a lot of acceptability of BJP in this bypoll. I could gauge the difference between the situation a year back and now. Things have changed dramatically and the perception of the party has changed on the ground. The people have realised that AAP has been unable to fulfil big promises made before the 2022 assembly elections. There is a big question mark on the delivery mechanism of AAP, the corruption they are resorting to, lawlessness and drug issues. The Congress workers are demoralised. People are surely going to give a strong message to AAP, similar to what they faced in Sangrur parliamentary byelection.
What are the key issues being projected by BJP?
First of all, the ruling AAP has deceived people by showing dreams of changing Punjab but nothing has happened in the 14 months of their rule. The issue of misgovernance is there. The killings of Sidhu Moose Wala and Sandeep Nangal Ambian stand testimony to the poor law and order situation in the state. People are questioning AAP’s capabilities and raising question marks on the security issues, especially, after how the government tackled Amritpal Singh’s issue. The state was in danger of going back into the era of the 80s and 90s era when it suffered the most due to terrorism.
Why did BJP pick a Sikh-Dalit face?
Not really, the BJP has always believed in cordial relationships between the Hindus and Sikhs. We had a long-standing relationship with Shiromani Akali Dal, which was for pro-development. Inder Iqbal’s father Charanjit Singh Atwal, was the coalition candidate in 2019 and secured handsome votes.
Was coalition with SAD a mistake, as Union minister Hardeep Puri has said?
The coalition then was the need of the hour. Punjab needed stability as it was coming out of dark days of terrorism. Punjab needed stability and good governance. The SAD-BJP alliance was pro-development, and former CM late Parkash Singh Badal delivered on it. We have seen the change. The coalition was required at that time and both the parties took the right decision. Moreover, Akali Dal left us, and we didn’t leave it.
Is there a possibility of a coalition again?
This will be decided by the party’s high command. The political leaders are joining BJP seeing the possibility that the party can contest independently. The kind of response the BJP is getting, and with more people joining, I think the party will have a strong foundation in the state, which it could not get during its time in the coalition when it was restricted to 23 seats only. We are going to expand the party in the coming four years, and there is no looking back. This is the right time for the party to grow in Punjab, the way it established itself in Haryana, Assam and Tripura, where we had nothing.
Wrestlers are still sitting on protest. Has to government failed to resolve the issue?
We were the first ones to address the issue. We formed a committee, and IOA constituted a sub-committee to look into the wrestlers’ demands. As far as sexual harassment case is concerned, the Delhi Police have already registered two cases and initiated an inquiry. There are certain procedures which need to be followed by police, including registering statements and cross-examination of both parties. I request them (wrestlers) to let the Delhi police inquiry finish. As far as the WFI president’s resignation is concerned, he has not been working for the past three months.
