Union Minister admits stir behind BJP rout in Punjab

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, February 18

The resentment against the farm stir has hit the BJP’s performance in the Doaba region. Not being able to bag even a single ward in Kapurthala, the party has bagged merely one ward each at Nawanshahr (Banga Nagar Council) and Jalandhar (Nurmahal) while it has bagged seven wards in Hoshiarpur (three at Mukerian and four at Hoshiarpur MC).

Union Cabinet Minister Som Parkash said the farmers’ protests certainly had an impact on the MC polls.

While at the Hoshiarpur Municipal Council, senior BJP leader Tikshan Sud’s wife Rakesh Sud lost from ward No 5; at Kapurthala, where BJP failed to open an account, former district BJP chief Purshottam Passi lost.

Farmers protested outside the house of former state Cabinet minister Manoranjan Kalia in Jalandhar and obstructed meetings and visits of various senior BJP leaders. Sud even faced protests wherein dung was dumped at his house following which he had also lodged an FIR against several farmers.

Sud said, "I don't think farmers’ stir was a big factor in the local bodies’ election. AAP and SAD had been backing farmers from day one. They would have triumphed. The parties used farmers to garner political mileage. The BJP has learnt the lesson and will come with more preparation for the 2024 elections."

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.