ASSEMBLY POLL 2024: Om Prakash Dhankar targets Congress over jobs, development issues
BJP national secretary and former Agriculture Minister Om Prakash Dhankar is in the fray from the Badli Assembly constituency. He is flagging the issue of government jobs, development and land acquisition in his poll meetings to corner the Congress candidate.
Considered close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the former BJP state president claimed that the Badli constituency had witnessed such a development during his tenure as the MLA from 2014 to 2019 that had never happened before. Dhankar lost the previous Assembly polls to Congress’ Kuldeep Vats in 2019. This time too, both leaders are taking on each other in the poll battle.
Dhankar, who was also the convener of the BJP manifesto committee for the Assembly polls, while interacting with The Tribune during his campaign in Badli town said, development and government jobs were the major issues in the election. The ‘Parchi-kharchi’ system prevailed in terms of giving jobs in the previous Congress regime while meritorious candidates were ignored, but the BJP ended this system on coming to power and ensured the jobs were given on the merit basis, he added.
“The jobs on merit not only worked to give employment to a large number of youth belonging to humble backgrounds but also strengthened people’s faith in the BJP policies. Now, we have promised to give two lakh jobs on merit. Nothing can be bigger than this for meritorious unemployed youth. Similarly, the BJP has ensured equal development across the state whereas there was discrimination in the previous Congress regime,” he added.
On being asked about the Congress’ claim for forming the government with a huge majority, the BJP leader said the ground reality was far away from this claim.
“People have not forgotten the misrule of the Congress when prime land of the farmers was acquired in the name of development at cheaper rates and was later sold to corporate houses. The Congress government ruined a large number of poor farmers in the Badli constituency itself. They are now struggling to make both ends meet but the BJP did not acquire the farmers’ land, hence it was going to form the government with a comfortable majority,” he added.
On being asked about development works in the Badli constituency, Dhankar claimed no official above patwari was posted in Badli when he was elected MLA from here. “I worked to get status of tehsil and subdivision for Badli. Now, an SDM is sitting here to redress public grievances. We brought an excellence centre of floriculture in Munimpur, regional centre of horticulture in Raiya, Government Women College in Kulana, Sanskriti School and PWD rest house in Patoda. The projects of National Cancer Institute, Ayurvedic Hospital in Deverkhana and the KMP Expressway were executed by our government,” he claimed.
Development works carried out
On being asked about development works in the Badli constituency, BJP national secretary and former Agriculture Minister Om Prakash Dhankar claimed no official above patwari was posted in Badli when he was elected MLA from here. “I worked to get the status of a tehsil and subdivision for Badli. Now, an SDM is sitting here to redress public grievances. We brought an excellence centre of floriculture in Munimpur, regional centre of horticulture in Raiya, Government Women College in Kulana, Sanskriti School and PWD rest house in Patoda. The projects of National Cancer Institute, Ayurvedic Hospital in Deverkhana and the KMP Expressway were executed by our government,” he claimed.
