Punjab polls 2022: Rajnath Singh trains guns on Congress, AAP at Lalru rally

Tribune News Service

Lalru, February 15

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today held an election rally in Lalru, a hub of farm union members’ struggle two months ago.

Seeking support for Dera Bassi BJP candidate Sanjiv Khanna, he trained his guns on the Congress and AAP.

Has a dig at AAP

AAP, which delivers liquor to every household in Delhi, is talking about freeing Punjab from the drug mafia. People of Delhi have rejected the policies of the Delhi Government. Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister

The senior BJP leader focused on state and national issues, including surgical strikes and digital India, sidelining local issues.

He accused the Congress government in the state of deliberately not implementing the Ayushman Bharat scheme and depriving people of free medical treatment. “The Ayushman Bharat scheme will be implemented within three months as soon as the BJP government comes to power in Punjab,” he said, adding that efforts had been made to reach out to every citizen of the country, but the Punjab Government had created obstacles.

Rajnath attacked the Congress saying that Congress MPs were alleging a scam in the ticket allocation and Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi was “a general who has no army”.

Having a dig at AAP, he said, “AAP, which delivers liquor to every household in Delhi, is talking about freeing Punjab from the drug mafia. People of Delhi have rejected the policies of the Delhi Government.”

He appealed to the people of Dera Bassi to make Khanna victorious and said the next destination of the drug and mining mafia would be jail as soon as BJP came to power. Earlier, Khanna said Congress candidate Deepinder Singh Dhillon was a sinking ship. “Seeing him lose for the fifth time, his supporters are leaving the party. SAD-BSP candidate NK Sharma, a two-time MLA, never did any good to this area,” he said.

Lalru residents who attended the rally said they were hoping to hear about local issues. “We were hoping to hear about industry-related announcements and employment generation for the youth by the party, but the senior BJP leader chose a different track,” said Rambir Sahai, a meat processing unit worker.

Khanna banking on Haryana BJP leaders

The Dera Bassi-Lalru area has a sizeable population of industrial and agricultural workers who hail from UP, Bihar and the Purvanchal area. The Chhath festival is celebrated with great fervour in this area and local leaders try to tap this decisive vote bank. Rajnath Singh’s rally, who hails from UP, is believed to be a part of the strategy to garner these votes.

Interestingly, Khanna has been banking on Haryana BJP leaders for campaigning. Besides district BJP president Sushil Rana, today also Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij, Haryana Minister of State OP Yadav, Rohtak MP Arvind Sharma, Kurukshetra MP Naib Saini, BJP Kisan Morcha national secretary Harjit Grewal, former Chandigarh MP Satya Pal Jain and former Kalka MLA Latika Sharma were on the stage. Khanna had roped in Himachal Chief Minister Jairam Thakur for campaigning in Zirakpur earlier. Immediately after the announcement of BJP candidate for this seat, Khanna, a realtor, had to face disgruntled local leaders who were vying for the ticket.

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