CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal today made a pitch for all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab as they launched the party campaign for the coming Lok Sabha poll.
This is for the first time that Mann has been given precedence over Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal in the AAP poll campaign. Posters, though carrying pictures of both Mann and Kejriwal, bear a slogan highlighting the leadership of Mann “Sansad ch vi Bhagwant Mann, khushaal Punjab te vadhegi shaan”. Mann was elated at being given the opportunity to lead the party campaign. “We will ensure the party’s victory on all 13 seats,” he said.
While the poll campaign was launched in Punjab today, the party has not yet announced its candidates. They are expected to be named anytime now. The candidates will be announced after the model code of conduct comes into force, said a top source in the party, requesting anonymity. “My aim and duty is to win the match. The players will be decided by Kejriwal,” said Mann.
As the party sounded its poll bugle in the state, the two leaders made a scathing attack on the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal though they did not name the parties and made indirect references to these.
The Congress, which is a part of the INDIA bloc along with AAP, was spared. Both leaders accused the Centre of not releasing funds to the state, withholding a sum of Rs 8,000 crore, “which could be used for making schools of eminence and creating public health infrastructure”. They also hit out at the Centre for using the office of Governor to create roadblocks in their governance initiatives.
“In fact, they (referring to the BJP) hate Punjab and Punjabis. If they have their way, they will even delete the name of Punjab from the national anthem. They have stopped the rural development fund (RDF) worth Rs 5,500 crore. If we have 13 AAP MPs from Punjab, they can together be a formidable force and pressure the Centre not to stop any development works or our dues,” said Mann.
Kejriwal said for two years, the AAP government, chief ministers and all ministers were doing “sewa” of people. “People of Punjab admit that they have never seen such a pro-people government. We have created a positive environment in the state. Judge us by our work. We have come to seek your mandate, for making Punjab vibrant and prosperous,” he said, adding that they would also see a large number of MPs getting elected from Gujarat, Assam and Delhi, besides Kurukshetra in Haryana.
He said, “We think of you as our Bhagwan. Give us your votes. We need them. Those claiming they will get 370 seats don’t need your votes. Punjab banega hero, is baar terah zero (13-0),” he said.