Lok Sabha Elections 2019: If elected, will become Amritsar’s voice in Cabinet, says BJP candidate Hardeep Singh Puri

Union minister of state for housing and urban affairs and BJP candidate from Amritsar, Hardeep Singh Puri, on Thursday said he would become the voice of the constituency in the Union cabinet if given a mandate by the voters.

Puri, who is pitted against Congress’s Gurjit Singh Aujla besides others, kicked off his election campaign in the presence of Punjab BJP president Shwait Malik and other senior party leaders after holding a press conference in Amritsar.

“If you give me the opportunity in this election, I will raise your concerns in the Union cabinet as the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is sure to form government at the Centre again,” said Puri, who was also accompanied by his wife Laxmi Puri and sitting Fatehgarh Sahib MP Harinder Singh Khalsa, who recently joined the BJP.

On the “outsider” tag, he said, “Some people unsuccessfully tried to create an ‘insider-versus-outsider’ narrative in Amritsar. Is Rahul Gandhi (Congress president) an insider in Wayanad?”

On the Kartarpur corridor issue, the BJP nominee said he had told his colleagues not to mix the corridor with security issues with Pakistan as the two are separate.

“I hope the Kartarpur corridor will take shape irrespective of the tension between two countries,” he added.

The diplomat-turned-politician refused to comment on the sacrilege issue for which the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), BJP’s alliance partner, is facing a backlash and said he will make Amritsar his place of his permanent residence.