Want place in people’s hearts, not house in Gurdaspur: Sunil Jakhar

Striking an emotional chord with the electorate here, Congress candidate for the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll Sunil Jakhar on Sunday said he wanted a place in the hearts of people rather than a house in the constituency.

On the second day of his campaigning, the Congress candidate held a series of meetings with party workers at Sujanpur, Bhoa, Gurdaspur and Fatehgarh Churian and also inaugurated election offices. “I am touched and overwhelmed by the love and affection you have showered on me,” Jakhar said while addressing a gathering.

He accused the BJP government at the Centre of adopting “anti-people policies” and pushing people into a “state of regression”. “Demonetisation and GST have broken the backbone of the common people while the spiralling prices of essential commodities, including diesel, petrol and LPG, continue cause unbearable suffering to them, he said.

The Congress candidate also rubbished the Aam Aadmi Party’s claims that he was an “outsider”. “Vinod Khanna, the former MP, whose death has necessitated this by-election, was also an outsider, as was Captain Amarinder Singh when he defeated Arun Jaitley in the Amritsar parliamentary constituency,” said Jakhar.

The Congress candidate also rubbished the Aam Aadmi Party’s claims that he was an “outsider”.

Confident of his victory in the byelection, he said votes would be polled in the name of the Congress and Capt Amarinder Singh, “who has put the people of Punjab back on the “path of progress”.

“Six months is not a long period to judge anybody’s performance and that too when we have to clean the 10-year mess of the SAD-BJP government. But despite financial constraints, the Congress government had announced loan waiver for farmers. In contrast, the previous SAD-BJP government did not give a single penny to the distressed farmers, he claimed.

Jakhar said he would ensure all-round development of all sections of the society, including farmers, youth and ex-servicemen and promised to take their issues to the Lok Sabha if he wins the bypoll.

He assured the Congress workers that he would ask state tourism and culture minister Navjot Singh Sidhu to resolve the issue of dam construction near the Mukteshwar Dham Temple in Pathankot.

The Congress leader said even though his term as a Lok Sabha member would be for just around 18 months, he would make all-out efforts to ensure the development of the constituency.

(PTI inputs)