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CM Bhagwant Mann to be face of AAP’s Lok Sabha campaign in Punjab
AAP launches Lok Sabha poll campaign in Punjab with the slogan - Sansad ch vee Bhagwant Mann, Khushaal Punjab te vadhegi shaan.
Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday launched the party’s Lok Sabha poll campaign in Punjab with the slogan – Sansad ch vee Bhagwant Mann, Khushaal Punjab te vadhegi shaan (With Bhagwant Mann in Parliament as well, Punjab will be happy and prosperous).
Addressing the campaign launch event in SAS Nagar district, Kejriwal exhorted people to ensure the party’s victory in all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab so that the elected MPs raise their voices and fight for the rights of the state in Parliament. He said they do not need these seats for themselves but to work more for the people of the state and the prosperity of their families. “We need these 13 seats to make Punjab ‘rangla’ (vibrant),” he said, urging people to strengthen Mann’s hands.
The party’s slogan makes Mann the face of its election campaign in Punjab. It is on the lines of the slogan – Sansad mein bhi Kejriwal, tabhee Dilli hogi aur khushaal - launched by the AAP on Friday for its election campaign in Delhi. An elated Mann thanked Kejriwal for placing so much confidence in him and giving him the opportunity to lead the campaign, promising to ensure victory in all 13 seats. AAP’s state working president Budh Ram and general secretary Harchand Singh Barsat were on the dais, while all ministers and several MLAs also attended the programme.
Hitting out at the BJP government at the Centre, Kejriwal said the Union government had withheld Punjab’s funds totalling ₹8,000 crore to trouble the state government and they were trying to bring it down. “It is a lot of money. Lots of work can be done with this money. Give 13 seats to Mann, who has been fighting with the Centre and the governor day and night for the state,” he said, questioning the role of the present 12 Lok Sabha MPs from Punjab. He also slammed the Centre for rejecting the Punjab tableau at the Republic Day parade.
Earlier, Bhagwant Mann said that if the AAP gets all 13 seats in the state, the central government would not be able to stop the funds of Punjab. “I have to fight alone with the Centre and the governor. If we get 13 MPs here, our hands will be strengthened,” he said. The CM said the government is working day and night for the progress of the people of Punjab. “We bought a thermal plant, gave more than 42,000 government jobs, provided free electricity and built Schools of Eminence and Mohalla Clinics. A pilgrimage scheme has been started for old people. Agniveer soldiers, whom the central government does not even consider as martyrs, are given ₹1 crore to their families,” he said, listing the state government’s achievements.
The CM attacked the central government, alleging that the BJP hates Punjab because the party knows that it cannot win here. “They do not want Punjab to progress. They try to harass us through the governor. The central government is withholding funds worth ₹8,500 crore of Punjab, including ₹5,500 crore of RDF (Rural Development Fund), which is used to build mandis and roads connected to them,” he said.
Mann slammed former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, claiming that it was because of his mistake that this money is not being released. “Last time, when RDF money came, they did not use it to build mandis and roads. With this money, he paid the loan instalments. That is why the Centre withheld the money and said that the funds were being misused. We made the requisite changes but still, the central government is not releasing the funds. The Centre is comparing the mandis of Punjab with those of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,” he said.
Referring to Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal’s Punjab Bachao Yatra, Mann said that his journey is only for the chair and family. “It had nothing to do with the people and Punjab,” he said. The AAP has already launched its election campaign in Delhi and Haryana.
