Sarpanches march in protest against BJP, vow support to Congress

Karnal, May 21

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A group of sarpanches from Karnal and Panipat districts on Tuesday took out a protest march against the BJP government. On the occasion, they announced their support for the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections.

The protest march, led by Haryana Sarpanch Association state president Ranbir Samain and district president Rattan Singh, began and concluded at Sector 12 and passed through Hospital Chowk, Mahatma Gandhi Chowk, Dr BR Ambedkar Chowk, Mall Road, Railway Road, Committee Chowk and Kujpura Road.

Rattan Singh said nearly 500 sarpanches or their representatives from both districts participated in the protest.

“We will vote against former CM and BJP candidate from Karnal Manohar Lal Khattar,” he said, adding that they will reach out to voters in their villages to convince them to cast their votes in favour of Congress candidate Divyanshu Budhiraja. Criticising the BJP government, Ranbir Samain accused it of stripping sarpanches of their powers.

“The state government has initiated steps like e-tendering and the right to recall. It also limited the power of sarpanches to allot funds for construction work, which has led to widespread resentment among us. A few days ago, we had decided that we would urge voters not to vote for the BJP,” said Samain.

Nilokheri president of the association Bhupinder Singh Laddi, and Isham Singh Jamba, a representative of Jamba sarpanch, along with other sarpanches, said they would continue to oppose the BJP in the future if their demands are not met. A few days ago, a group of other sarpanches had announced their support for BJP candidate Manohar Lal Khattar.