Joint Front federations to boycott Congress, BJP in Assembly elections

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, January 16

The Punjab UT Employees Pensioners Joint Front held a state-level convention at Desh Bhagat Yadgaar Hall here today. The joint front federations and organisations, which attended the convention, passed a resolution that the Congress government in the state would face boycott by them during the upcoming Assembly polls for non-fulfillment of their various demands. The front also announced to boycott the BJP.

The front expressed angst against the ruling dispensation for its failure to regularise contractual employees, non-implementation of the Minimum Wage Act for daily wagers, and pay commission for pensioners and employees, suspension of employees’ allowances and ACPs, non-release of allowances of employees’ probation period and non-implementation of the old pension scheme and inability to provide jobs to unemployed.

The front said they would boycott the BJP in the upcoming elections since the Centre was privatising government establishments and implementing pro-corporate policies.

Addressing the gathering on the occasion, joint front leaders Satish Rana, Germanjit Singh and Ranjit Singh Ranwan among others said rather than fulfilling demands of pensioners, government employees and daily wagers in the past five years, the Congress had been indulging in delaying tactics.

Due to this reason, Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Finance Minister Manpreet Badal would be opposed in Jalandhar and Patiala, respectively, with a black flag protest on January 26, they said.

Similarly, a flag march would be held against the Finance Minister in his constituency on February 1, they added.

The Opposition leaders had also failed to come up with a concrete plan to raise issues of employees, pensioners and daily wagers, they said. Nor had they strongly opposed the government for its inability to do so, they added. Hence, delegations of the front would also reach out to key Opposition leaders to pose these questions to them, they said.

On January 21, these questions would be posed to the Aam Aadmi Party in Sangrur, on January 22 to the Bahujan Samaj Party in Jalandhar, on January 23 to the Sanyukt Samaj Morcha in Ludhiana and on January 24 to the Shiromani Akali Dal at Lambi, they added.

Joint front members also declared their support to the two-day strike by central trade unions on February 23 and 24 against the policies of the Central Government.

Hardeep Todarpur, Parduman Gautam, Teerath Bassi and Gurkamal Singh were present among others leaders during the convention.

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