Alliance with Akali Dal in Punjab cost BJP heavily: Hardeep Puri
Darpan News Desk IANS, 11 Jan, 2022 11:56 AM
New Delhi, Jan 11 (IANS) Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday said that he "personally" feels that alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab had cost the BJP heavily.
Puri, the BJP election co-incharge for Punjab, said: "It is my personal view that our alliance in the past had cost us heavily in many ways. Today with the people who are joining us, we will take Punjab on a fast path of development."
He said that earlier in the 117-member Punjab Assembly, the BJP used to contest 22-23 seats and won three seats in last Assembly polls but now the party has left with just two MLA and five per cent vote share.
He claimed that a new political situation is developing in Punjab and in this, with new alliance partners and people joining the party, the BJP will go up and up.
"When we were in alliance, the BJP never contested more than 22-23 seats and Alkalis were in dominant position. The BJP was not able to rise in the state. This time we formed an alliance with Captain Amarinder Singh, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and people are joining us. Now we are equal partners and it is a good opportunity for us to rise in Punjab. In the five corner contest, BJP will have a good show in Punjab," he said as a few leaders from Punjab joined the BJP at the party headquarters here.
The BJP is jointly contesting the Punjab assembly election with former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa's Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt). The three parties have formed a six-member committee, comprising two each from three parties to decide the seat sharing formula. Three parties will also make a common manifesto. Polling in Punjab will be held on February 14 and counting of votes will take place on March 10.
Taking a dig at Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Puri said: "The time he (Yadav) took to conduct the trial run of Kanpur Metro, our government has run the metro. Uttar Pradesh is number one in implementing all the Central government schemes. There is a saying 'success has many father', and Akhilesh is trying to take credit for our work."
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Out of the total surveyed people in Punjab, 52.1 per cent think that the new party of ex-Chief Minister Amarinder Singh will hurt the Congress, as per the ABP-CVoter-IANS 5-State Snap Poll.
The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed a petition seeking removal of the then Delhi Police Commissioner S N Srivastava from his post and punishment for police officials who allegedly failed to discharge their duty during the farmers' tractor rally in the national capital on January 26 (Republic Day).
The West Bengal government is planning to bring a resolution in the Assembly against the extension of jurisdiction of the BSF in the state. After Punjab, West Bengal will be the second state to bring such a resolution.
The BJP is still the favourite to win the Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh next year but it is now losing 108 seats as the Samajwadi Party rises rapidly, while in Uttarakhand and Punjab, Congress is making a strong comeback, as per the ABP-CVoter-IANS 5-State Snap Poll.
The awards were presented by the President at the civil investiture ceremony held in two parts, of 45 minutes each in the morning and evening, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
