CHANDIGARH, February 18:The Bharatiya Janata Party today appealed to Punjabis to give its alliance a clear majority for peace and prosperity in the state. The party said, it had come with a vision and agenda for development unlike the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party which were pursuing the divisive agenda. Addressing a press conference while wrapping up party’s campaign here today, union minister and party incharge for Punjab Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, along with state BJP general secretary, Subhash Sharma, said, for the first time the BJP was fighting these elections as a major partner with 73 seats, while till now it used to contest 23 seats only.
Shekhawat cautioned against the hidden and divisive agendas of the Congress party. He said, whether it was one of its leaders, a former police officer threatening other political parties or the PCC president making derigratory comments against a community and the Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi himself threatening people from the states lik Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the party had stooped too low in pursuing its divisive agenda. He said, more shocking was the Congress general secretary Ms Priyanka Gandhi cheering and laughing while Channi was mocking at and threatening people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Shekhawat said the state of affairs in Congress was so anarchic that it even forgot to release its manifesto till the last day and it only released it when it was pointed out by the media. He said, there was a vertical split in the Congress with PCC president and the Chief Minister pulling in vertically opposite directions. The BJP leader warned against the secessionist and extremist agenda of the Aam Aadmi Party and its leader, Arvind Kejriwal. He said, these allegations were levelled by none other than his own colleague and one of the founders of the AAP, Dr Kumar Vishwas. He said, not only Vishwas, other senior colleagues of Kejriwal had from time to time revealed his agenda to pursue personal ambitions.
Shekhawat said, Kejriwal’s another agenda of scrapping the reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was equally dangerous and disastrous. He disclosed that Kejriwal’s statements have appeared where he is seen and heard suggesting scrapping of the reservation system in the country, enshrined in our constitution which was drafted by Baba Sahib Bhim Rao Ambedkar.
The union Jal Shakti Minister said, the Punjabis have always rejected any sectarian, divisive and extremist agenda with the spirit of Punjabiyat and they will reject it this time also. Appealing people to vote for the BJP for a clear majority, Shekhawat said, while other parties pursued divisive agenda, BJP believed in peace, progress and social harmony, with “sabka sath, sabka vikas”. “You have given chance to the Congress and the Akalis, now give us one chance”, he appealed to Punjabis, while clarifying that although the BJP was an ally of the Akalis earlier, it had a limited role as it contested only 23 of the 117 assembly segments.
