Farmers Movement Archive

Punjab: PM Modi to launch BJP election campaign with Ferozepur rally

BATHINDA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a rally in Ferozepur on Wednesday to launch the poll campaign for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Punjab. The rally in Ferozepur, where the party has a considerable presence, will launch BJP’s role as a senior partner in its alliance with former chief minister Amarinder Singh’s Punjab Lok Congress and the remnants of SAD (Sanyukt) led by Akali leader and former Union minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa. BJP is going all out to ensure a huge crowd for the Modi rally. The party is expecting a gathering of nearly 2.5 lakh people from across Punjab, according to BJP state unit general secretary Jeevan Gupta, who is in-charge of the Ferozepur rally. The Prime Minister is visiting Punjab after nearly two years due to the Covid outbreak but he has always fulfilled promises made to the people of Punjab be it withdrawal of farm laws or opening of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, Gupta said. Police stop farmers on the way to protest at PM Narendra Modi’s rallyThere is speculation about some major announcement by Modi at the rally, but the party is neither confirming nor denying anything. “I assure you that the Prime Minister's rally is bound to bring a new change in Punjab politics and if any doubts are there in people’s minds about the BJP, all those will be cleared,” said Gupta. Claiming that Punjab transporters faced a shortage of buses to fulfill BJP's demand for the rally, Gupta said the party had to arrange buses from neighbouring states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. As the leaders from other parties have joined the BJP in the past few weeks, Gupta added that more leaders are expected to join the saffron party after the Prime Minister's rally. Till now, BJP was a junior partner in its almost 25-year alliance with Shiromani Akali Dal and was limited to certain pockets mainly in the Majha and Doaba regions of the state. The Modi rally is a strong indication that it now is aiming to make inroads in the all-important Malwa region. After announcing his government's decision to repeal the three contentious farm laws on Gurpurb, the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev on November 19, 2021, BJP is trying to placate farmers and Sikh voters, who had totally rejected the party over these farm laws. This is for the first time that the saffron party is taking Punjab seriously and is making all-out efforts to show that Punjab, dominated by Sikhs, is no longer angry with BJP and in the last few weeks, has inducted a number of Sikh leaders in the party. At present, BJP is concentrating on urban segments and may prefer to leave rural segments where Sikh voters outnumber Hindu voters to its alliance partners, according to sources. Punjab BJP president Ashwani Kumar Sharma also reiterated that the Modi rally will be a turning point in Punjab polity. "People are evincing faith in the leadership of Narendra Modi and this faith will translate into making a BJP-led government in the state," he added. The Modi government is banking on healthcare and road infrastructure sectors to make inroads in Punjab. It is highlighting upgradation of healthcare infrastructure as Modi will lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects, including the PGI satellite centre and two medical colleges at Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur. A number of road projects too will be launched. The party is also trying to generate goodwill on the religious front by connecting Sikh religious sites at Sultanpur Lodhi, Goindwal Sahib, Khadoor Sahib, Tarn Taran, and the Hindu shrine of Vaishno Devi at Katra.

The Times of India

2022-01-05

Amritsar