Campaigning picks up pace in Bathinda

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, April 22

With just less than a month to go for polling, campaigning is gradually picking up pace in the Bathinda parliamentary constituency as parties have started reaching out to voters.

Congress candidate Amrinder Singh Raja Warring on Monday met morning walkers at Joggers Park and Rose Garden. He perfomed yoga with a group of elderly persons at Rose Garden.

Thereafter, Warring visited the house of former Congress MLA Ajitinder Singh Mofar at Sardulgarh. Later, he paid a visit to the resident of former Congress MLA late Sher Singh Gagowal in Mansa and met his family members.

Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal’s brother-in-law Jaijeet Singh Johal, aka Jojo, and Bathinda (Urban) Congress president Arun Wadhawan on Monday held a meeting with Congress workers at the Finance Minister’s office.

At the meeting, they directed the workers to start mobilising people’s support for the Congress candidate in the city. They also announced that the Finance Minister would start campaigning for the Congress candidate during a programme to be held at Green Palace on April 23.

Sitting Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Monday visited the grain market to inspect the procurement process. She said farmers had been deliberately harassed in the name of high moisture content. She also called the Deputy Commissioner and asked him to visit the grain market to see the situation. The MC also alleged rigging of the moisture content machine.

Later, she held public meetings at various places, including Bharat Nagar and Lal Singh Basti. At Bharat Nagar, Harsimrat planted a sapling to mark World Earth Day.

While addressing a gathering, Harsimrat said, “I have learnt from my father-in-law Parkash Singh Badal to serve the poor people. I had joined politics to serve the poor and the needy. We are thankful to the god for giving us the opportunity to serve the people as building a road is noble work as it gives relief to the people.”

She appealed to people to do ‘simran’ and ‘sewa’ and said no one would fail in life.

Listing her achievements, the MP said she was responsible for city’s facelift in the past 10 years. She said they brought AIIMS to the city and it was ranked 1 in the state in the swachhta survey this year.  

In the evening, around 100 workers of the AAP and the Congress from Maur joined the SAD in presence of Harsimrat Badal and Iqbal Singh Dhillon.  

Punjab Democratic Alliance (PDA) candidate Sukhpal Khaira and AAP candidate Baljinder Kaur are also campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections.  

PDA candidate Sukhpal Khaira said, “For the past one month, I have been campaigning at the grassroots level. To date, I have done more than 300 public meetings and covered around 200 villages in the Bathinda parliamentary constituency. We are getting a good response in the state. People are saying that they are fed up with the corrupt system.”