2 weeks Ago By Payal Dhawan
1 2 Ludhiana: After the declaration of Congress leader Bharat Bhushan Ashu as the party's candidate for Ludhiana West bypolls late on Friday night, senior Congress leaders from Delhi and Punjab, including former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Pargat Singh, reached Ludhiana to back him up. Addressing mediapersons, they asked the police and district administration to stay unbiased and accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of neglecting the industrial town over the past three years. They also accused AAP of implicating Ashu in vigilance cases.
Besides, Congress leaders asked AAP to procure the resignation of their candidate, Sanjeev Arora, from the Rajya Sabha, before making him contest the elections. Senior Congress leaders who came to Ludhiana included former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, AICC secretaries Alok Sharma and Ravindra Dalvi, and former minister Pargat Singh. President, Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) and Ludhiana MP Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, district Congress president Sanjay Talwar, other senior leaders such as former MLAs Surinder Dawar, Rakesh Pandey, and former senior deputy mayor Sham Sunder Malhotra joined them.
Expressing the apprehension that police might implicate Congress leaders and workers to "do a favour to the ruling govt," former minister Pargat Singh warned them against taking sides. He exhorted them to play fair in the election. Party leader Alok Sharma said, "Over these three years, Ludhiana, which is an industrial town, remained the most neglected one.
The Congress govt worked to make Ludhiana a smart city but the AAP did nothing. Neither did they build a bus stand, nor developed the Focal Point area. They did not even get Buddha Nullah cleaned despite issuing grants for it.
In addition, the ruling govt implicated Ashu in vigilance cases; however, the high court did justice by acquitting Ashu and scolding the govt for misusing its agencies." He added, "People in Delhi threw Kejriwal and AAP out of power because they only changed names of schools and hospitals there in the name of development." He said that Kejriwal was trying to get a "backdoor entry" into politics through the bypoll.
"If the AAP govt has genuinely worked for people, they must make their candidate resign from the Rajya Sabha seat first and then fight an election," he asserted. Former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi also made similar allegations against AAP. "This is not only Ludhiana West elections but an election for the future of Punjab because currently, AAP's Delhi leadership is indirectly interfering in Punjab.
Later, they would hijack all the departments here," he claimed. Box: AAP failed to give ticket to Gogi's wife: Ashu Party candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu said, "Aam Aadmi Party has never been loyal to their leaders and workers. Our old friend, Gurpreet Gogi, died, but the party neglected his family by not giving his wife a ticket for the by-elections, which shows that the party does not value their workers and leaders.
The reason why Sanjeev Arora was chosen over Gogi's wife is to make an attempt to vacate the Rajya Sabha seat from Punjab for AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal. This is not Sanjeev Arora's election; this is Kejriwal's election." War of hoardings becomes battle of wits Ludhiana: With senior leaders of Congress and AAP rallying behind their respective candidates, a war of hoardings has started Bharat Bhushan Ashu and Sanjeev Arora.
While Congress hoardings highlight development work, the AAP hoardings are an indirect take Ashu's public displays of anger. Ashu's hoardings read: "For development and trust, Ashu is Must," while Sanjeev Arora's hoardings read: "Na gussa na hankaar, Sanjeev Arora is waar." In most locations, Ashu and Arora's hoardings are displayed side by side.
During Ashu's tenure as cabinet minister, he faced controversies related to his alleged misbehaviour, with video and audio recordings going viral. On the other hand, Ashu is showcasing the work he did, with the railway underbridge, overbridges, leisure valley, etc, displayed in the background. Raja warring reaches Ashu's residence PPCC president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring visited Ashu's residence with district Congress president Sanjay Talwar and others.
However, in the absence of Ashu and his wife, they left. Earlier in the day, during the press conference, questions were raised on the absence of Warring and Talwar, to which leaders had said that they were occupied somewhere. There have been speculations about personal issues between the duo.
When contacted to Ashu, he said, "We were not informed about their visit, otherwise I would have been at home to welcome them. People need not to speculate anything as we are united." MSID:: 120017100 413 |.
