BJP will kick-start poll campaign on Oct 27

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Arki, October 24

The BJP will formally kick-start its poll campaign on October 27 with senior leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, national president Amit Shah, union ministers Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, etc, and senior leaders being part of the campaign.

BJP’s state in-charge Mangal Pandey, while addressing media persons at Arki today, said development undertaken by the Narendra Modi government would be the main poll plank. He urged the people to vote for the BJP to speed up the pace of development. He said the party would soon release its vision document envisioning its poll agendas.

The issues like ending mafia raj, ensuring safety of women and the girl child, employment for the youth, doubling farm income with special focus on the apple growers would be the other poll planks. The party would restore the law and order in the state which had taken a severe beating after the Kotkhai rape and murder case.

Launching a scathing attack on the Virbhadra Singh-led Congress government, Pandey said that development had come to a standstill as retired and tired officers were running the show. He said the ploy of such officers to offer their resignation at Shimla yesterday was a mere drama.

With Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh contesting from this seat, Arki constituency has suddenly become the cynosure of activity. Pandey, specially arrived here to add vigour to the poll campaign of its candidate Rattan Singh Pal. He was accompanied by the union minister Thawar Chand Gehlot.

Terming the Chief Minister as an opportunist, who had vacated his seat for his son, Pandey said he had no love for the people nor he had any development plans in mind. The Chief Minister merely wanted to get elected by befooling the people and they should be wary of his machinations. He said the Chief Minister, his son and wife were out on bail and facing charges of corruption.

Pandey said the BJP would form a corruption – free government in the state like it had done in other states.

Pandey urged the people to vote for Rattan Singh Pal, who was a farmer’s son, had a clean image and would also remain in touch with them. He hinted at the area receiving a bigger representation in the government if the party was voted to power. He claimed that a farmer’s son would defeat a raja.

He alleged that the Chief Minister, who was using unsavoury words for the people of Arki, would hardly come up to their expectations after being elected. He also reminded the people that the Chief Minister had termed the Kotkhai rape and murder case as a usual happening which occurred in every other state and said the voters of Arki will give him a befitting reply.

Pandey said aspersions had been cast on the Kotkhai case’s SIT and this reflected the deteriorating law and order situation where women and children were not safe. He said it was appalling that the entire state machinery was engaged in protecting the perpetrators of Kotkhai case.