Tuesday, May 3, 2022

punjab: Need stable, strong government at Centre in 2024, says former Punjab CM Amarinder

Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections are important as the country needs a stable and strong government which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is already providing. The Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) chief was addressing a meeting of party candidates contesting the Punjab Assembly elections in February. A PLC release said state BJP general secretary Subhash Sharma also attended the meeting. Singh said, given the geopolitical situation prevailing in the world in the wake of the Russo-Ukraine war, the country needs a stable, mature and strong leadership, which Prime Minister Modi is providing. Singh said the PLC and its ally BJP will jointly contest the upcoming elections to the four municipal corporations – Ludhiana, Patiala, Amritsar and Jalandhar.

The meeting took stock of the current situation in the state and also reviewed the performance of party candidates in the last assembly elections. Notably, the PLC failed to win a single seat in Punjab in the last elections. The Aam Aadmi Party returned to power by winning 92 of the 117 assembly seats in the state. Congress won 18, SAD 3, PLC’s ally BJP 2 and BSP 1. An independent also won. Singh said, while the people of Punjab had voted overwhelmingly for the Aam Aadmi Party with high hopes, “there is already a feeling of disillusionment against the government more than expected”. “The AAP government has not only backed down on many promises and promises, but has also hurt the pride of Punjabis by usurping their power and rights,” he alleged. “Punjabi will never tolerate an outsider like Arvind Kejriwal running the government from Delhi,” Singh said. He narrated how “Kaijriwal was organizing meetings of Punjab officials in Delhi and issuing orders to them”. “It is unconstitutional and unacceptable,” he said, adding, “the way Kejriwal is running the government, he will bring down Punjab.” Responding to demands from party leaders that he should start traveling across the state, Amarinder said, he would soon announce his state-wide schedule.

He said that in the first round he would visit all the district headquarters and then the assembly constituencies. Addressing the meeting, BJP state general secretary Subhash Sharma said though the BJP-PLC alliance could not win many seats, a strong foundation has already been laid. He said, while the immediate focus will certainly be on municipal elections which are now due in less than a year, the alliance will be a formidable force in the 2024 general elections. He predicted that the 2024 elections in Punjab would be mainly on the margins between the BJP-PLC alliance and the Aam Aadmi Party between the Congress and the Akalis.

Originally published at Pen 18

No comments:

Post a Comment

new zealand: Rain interrupts play in second ODI against New Zealand with India on 22-0 after 4.5 overs

India were 22 for no loss in 4.5 overs against New Zealand when rain stopped play in the second one-day international at Seddon Park here on...