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Punjab CM Mann says will rent house in Jalandhar for AAP’s byelection campaign
Mann’s statement comes day after party decided to run AAP campaign under supervision of its general secretary, organisation, and Rajya Sabha member Sandeep Pathak
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday said he will rent a house in Jalandhar to campaign for the assembly byelection in the city, and added that the Aam Aadmi Party’s campaign will be centred on the work done by his government.
Addressing a gathering at a state-level function to mark the birth anniversary of Sant Kabir Das in Hoshiarpur, Mann said that the Aam Aadmi Party has decided to contest the Jalandhar West byelection under his leadership. His statement comes a day after the party decided to run the AAP campaign under the supervision of its general secretary, organization, and Rajya Sabha member Sandeep Pathak. According to the plan, Mann would campaign only during the last leg. Twenty-three senior leaders, including two MPs, four ministers and MLAs, are camping in Jalandhar as a part of the campaign for the bypoll to be held on July 10. Votes will be counted on July 13.
The byelection to the Jalandhar West seat was necessitated following the resignation of Sheetal Angural as an AAP MLA.
Mann said as the chief minister and the AAP state unit chief, he will lead the poll campaign for the election in Jalandhar West. “I will tell people that this work has been done and this is yet to be done. Give us more strength for the development of your area,” Mann said.
“I will rent a house here (Jalandhar). It is not that this house will be (rented) only up to July 10 (when results of bypoll will be declared). This house will later become the office for Majha and Doaba regions for two or three days every week. I will stay there,” he said.
The CM and officers will be present there for two days, he added.
The Aam Aadmi Party faced a drubbing in the recent Lok Sabha elections in which it could win only three of the 13 parliamentary constituencies in Punjab.
In the prestige battle, the AAP has fielded Mohinder Bhagat as its candidate for Jalandhar West. The party had won the seat in the 2022 Punjab assembly polls. Angural, who is now the BJP’s candidate from the constituency, tendered his resignation on March 28, a day after joining the saffron party. His resignation was accepted by the Punjab assembly Speaker on May 30.
A total of 23 candidates have filed their nomination papers for the July 10 bypoll. The last day for filing papers was June 21.
While the scrutiny of nominations will take place on June 24, the last date for the withdrawal of nominations is June 26. With inputs by HTC
