Harsimrat galvanises party cadre to take on Manpreet

BATHINDA: Union Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament from Bathinda, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, has taken charge to defeat her ‘arch opponent’ Manpreet Singh Badal, who is contesting on a Congress ticket from the Bathinda (Urban) constituency for the Assembly elections.

Union Cabinet Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal addresses a rally in Bathinda. A File photo

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, January 11

Union Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament from Bathinda, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, has taken charge to defeat her ‘arch opponent’ Manpreet Singh Badal, who is contesting on a Congress ticket from the Bathinda (Urban) constituency for the Assembly elections.

Harsimrat held a five-hour long meeting with SAD-BJP leaders at a private hotel last night.

She appealed them to work together and defeat their opponent.

Senior SAD and BJP leaders, including SAD candidate Sarup Chand Singla, senior deputy mayor Tarsem Goyal, deputy mayor Gurinderpal Kaur Mangat and members of MCB’s F&CC Harmander Singh and Nirmal Singh Sandhu were not present in the meeting.

In the absence of senior party leaders, Harsimrat Badal listened to the grievances of the leaders.

Many independent turned SAD councillors said after they joined SAD, ward in charges were appointed over them, who were given the authority to give welfare scheme forms and take other decisions, which diminished their image.

Expressing their resentment over appointment of former councillor Vijay Kumar as media in charge of SAD, leaders from the trans-railway line area said the party had given undue importance to a person who had lost MC elections and ignored those who had won with huge margins.

One of the councillor present in the meeting, on condition of anonymity, said Harsimrat Badal had one to one meeting with all councillors present in the meeting and she took feedback regarding the situation in their wards.

Most of the councillors had presented a long list of complaints against senior leaders.

She exhorted the councillors to put up a united face as they were campaigning for Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Harsimrat is taking keen interest in Bathinda (Urban) constituency as Manpreet Badal, who is contesting on a Congress ticket and who is her estranged brother in-law, had unsuccessfully contested against her in the Lok Sabha election in 2014.

Harsimrat had trailed by more than 29,000 votes from this segment.