Will rope in industry to create jobs: Amritsar Central MLA Dr Ajay Gupta

Neeraj Bagga

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Amritsar, April 15

Medico-turned-politician Dr Ajay Gupta, 61, of the AAP has a tough task of freeing the narrow winding roads of the walled city from encroachments. He pulled out a big surprise by defeating Deputy Chief Minister OP Soni, five-time MLA who seemed to be unchallenged in the constituency before the election.

Mohalla clinics to be opened

Unemployment is the root cause of all problems. Drug addiction and rising poverty are the results of the high unemployment rate. Soon, mohalla clinics will be opened and more staff hired. — Dr Ajay Gupta, Amritsar Central MLA

A major portion of the Amritsar Central seat falls in the walled city, which is grappling with rampant encroachments by shopkeepers and a high number of rehris (carts). It results in further congestion on the already serpentine roads, which eventually leads to frequent traffic jams.

Gupta, an MBBS graduate in 1983, established himself as a successful entrepreneur as he owns and runs a hospital, which, too, falls under the same constituency. Asserting that he was aware of all problems plaguing his constituency, he said unemployment was the root cause.

Talking about the solution, he said: “Industrialists and entrepreneurs will be roped in for hiring people from the area. Employment will dissuade more people from taking to drugs and bring down plying of rehris in the area.”

Some villages also fall in the constituency in which a large proportion is urbanite. Hence, maintaining balance between the two would be of immense importance as their aspirations and necessities were different, he said.

Having secured just 7,171 votes in the 2017 poll and despite not being a prominent face, he managed to topple heavyweight Soni. Obviously, he was riding on the undercurrent of the AAP tsunami. He won the seat by a margin of 14,026 votes.