In an embarrassment for Punjab jails minister Sarwan Singh Phillaur, he was forced to flee from a village in Kartarpur assembly segment represented by him after facing people’s ire over “remaining absent” from the constituency.
The minister, who was campaigning for Jalandhar SAD candidate Pawan Kumar Tinu, was left speechless when people at Kalyanpur, Singan and Nijjran villages refused to recognise him as their MLA.
At Kalyanpur, after Tinu addressed the meeting, angry supporters asked the SAD candidate not to accompany Phillaur to the villages anymore.
Villagers claimed that they were seeing Phillaur for the first time after winning the election.
Villagers were also agitated over the slapping of seven cases against their sarpanch, who belonged to the SAD, allegedly at the behest of the minister’s supporters.
The sarpanch also apprised Tinu of the “police force” being used against his family allegedly at the minister’s behest.
A large number of village women gathered at the meeting and blamed Phillaur for “nonavailability of ration” at the depot and for “giving protection” to the depot holder who “sold the ration on the black market”.
“It is the minister’s maiden visit to the village after winning the assembly polls in 2012. We belong to the SAD cadre but even our voices have not been heard,” villagers led by the sarpanch said.
Seeing the hostility, Phillaur sat in the car and suddenly left the village. However, villagers declared support to Tinu.
“It is the minister’s maiden visit to the village after winning the assembly polls in 2012. We belong to the SAD cadre but even our voices have not been heard,” villagers led by the sarpanch said.
Seeing the hostility, Phillaur sat in the car and suddenly left the village. However, villagers declared support to Tinu.
Tinu, when asked to comment, said, “At a few places, certain party members have expressed such sentiments (against Phillaur), but it happens in big parties. After I gave them assurance, agitated party workers have cooled down.”