Scheduled to kick-start the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) campaign in the run-up to the 2027 Punjab Assembly polls, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address a ‘Badlav Rally’ in Moga on March 14. The rally will take place at the same spot where Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal had earlier addressed a mega gathering.
As per reports, it is expected that several top leaders of the Indian National Congress will be present at the rally. According to sources, some leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal are also expected to attend the rally. There are also talks that a few leaders from the ruling party may also be present at the rally.
State BJP working President Ashwani Sharma said on Thursday that "every section of Punjab, distressed on all fronts, has made up its mind to oust the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) from power and they now consider the BJP a reliable and credible alternative for change”.
On March 16, the AAP government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will be completing four years in office.
The BJP said in these four years, far from fulfilling electoral guarantees and promises, the government has failed to ensure the rule of law in the state.
Sharma alleged the government has taken U-turns on every promise made before coming to power.
He told the media that the law and order situation in Punjab is in shambles, while corruption linked to the drug and mining mafia is rampant.
“The health and education systems are deteriorating, and employees are not receiving salaries and pensions on time. Due to pending reimbursements under free schemes, the Power Board and Punjab Roadways are facing heavy losses and have been unable to pay salaries for months.
"The culprits in sacrilege cases have not been punished, while AAP’s own leaders, MPs, and MLAs are accusing their party colleagues of collusion with the mafia.”
He said CM Mann not only failed to fulfill the promise of providing Minimum Support Price (MSP) on every crop, but in the past four years farmers have allegedly faced reductions even in the MSP for wheat and paddy sent by the Centre.
Traders are distressed by what Sharma described as “tax recovery terror” of the state government.
In four years, the AAP government has neither built new roads in cities, towns, and villages nor even repaired potholes.
Sharma said incidents of chain snatching are occurring daily across villages, towns, and cities in Punjab.
“Extortion calls are now being made not only to big businessmen but even to small grocery shopkeepers selling flour and pulses.
"Kabaddi players are being killed in broad daylight. Gangsters are openly firing shots and killing at will, and now even incidents are taking place fearlessly outside police stations and SSP offices,” he said.
Sharma alleged the Punjab Police, which once eradicated terrorism from the state, has been kept so busy by Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann in settling political scores with opponents that it has failed to prevent grenade attacks on its own police stations.
Sharma said in the 2027 Assembly elections, the people of Punjab will get rid of the AAP government and form a BJP “double-engine” government, putting the state back on the path of development.
IANS
