Amit Shah’s ‘big position’ promise raises stakes for Bittu in poll battle

Nitin Jain

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Ludhiana, May 27

Union Home Minister and BJP stalwart Amit Shah’s promise to give a ‘big position’ to sitting three-time MP and party nominee from Ludhiana Ravneet Singh Bittu has raised stakes for the Congress turncoat in the electoral battle here.

Ravneet gets warm welcome in jagraon

• In the final week of the Lok Sabha elections, Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Ravneet Bittu intensified his campaign with roadshows in Jagraon villages. During these events, villages including Ramgarh Bhullar, Tappad, Sherpur Kalan, Ghalib Kalan, Leela Megh Singh, and Kaunke Clan Ward No. 2 extended a warm welcome to Bittu
• Addressing the gathering, Bittu articulated his vision for Ludhiana and promised hospitals like AIIMS and PGI, premier educational institutes, ample employment opportunities, and comprehensive village development

Urging Ludhiana voters to re-elect Bittu, whom he called as his friend of five years, as MP, Shah promised to make him a big man afterwards. “Yeh Ravneet Bittu mera dost hai, 5 saal se dost bana hai mera, ise Ludhiana se Dilli ki sansad mein bhejiye, isko bada aadmi banane ka kaam main karunga..main karunga (Ravneet Bittu is my friend, has become my friend 5 years back, send him from Ludhiana to Delhi’s Parliament, I will make him a big man),” said Shah to the big public applause.

On hearing this, Bittu, who had recently quit the Congress to join the BJP, immediately got up from his seat and bent towards Shah with folded hands.

Shah was addressing his maiden election rally in Punjab in favour of Bittu at grain market on Jalandhar bypass here on Sunday evening.

In his three-minute speech, the saffron party’s leader said AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and his party were using the Punjab Government as “corruption ATM” to fund their personal and party expenses. “Kejriwal has got an ATM card issued from Punjab. Whenever he requires money for paying the lawyers to contest his court cases or fund for contesting elections in other states, he draws public money from Punjab,” Shah alleged, while accusing the Bhagwant regime of diverting Punjab’s resources outside the state.

Predicting 310 seats for the BJP after fifth phase of polling and the saffron party crossing the 400-mark after sixth and seventh leg, Shah exhorted Punjab voters, “Modi ji ki mala mein Punjab se bhi kuch kamal daal deejiye.”

Accusing the AAP and the Congress of playing “Noora Kushti” (fixed fight or pretending to fight while fooling a target audience) in Punjab while fighting the elections together elsewhere, he said both these parties were responsible for all the ills that prevailed in the state. “They promoted corruption, drugs, terrorism, disturbed law and order, created divide among Sikhs and Hindus, and engineered 1984 anti-Sikh riots,” Shah asserted, while accusing the INDIA bloc, which he called as “ghamandiya gathhbandhan” of neck-deep in corruption with a history of scams and corruption over Rs 12-lakh crore in the past.

Comparing INDIA bloc with the BJP-led NDA alliance, Shah said while the Congress and its allies were known for corruption and scams, nobody can accuse PM Modi of even 25-paise corruption after 23 years of his public service as CM and PM. “Modi finished terrorism, took on corruption, promoted communal harmony, built Ram Temple and opened Kartarpur Corridor,” he recalled.

Calling the AAP-led government in Punjab as “jhola chhaap sarkar”, he said it would not last long after the Lok Sabha poll.

Shah asked Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann if he was AAP supremo and Delhi CM’s pilot or state’s CM? “I fail to understand if he is Kejriwal’s pilot or Punjab’s CM because wherever Kejriwal goes, he accompanies him as his pilot,” he wondered, while lauding Mann for doing one good thing that he did not accompany Kejriwal to jail.

BJP 400 paar, Congress below 40: Shah

In an exclusive chat with The Tribune, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the BJP aims for “400 paar” while the Congress seats are likely to remain below 40. “The entire nation unanimously agrees that Modi will be the Prime Minister. From east to west, north to south, whether in the mountains, by the sea, in the jungles, or the cities, the response is the same everywhere,” he claimed.