PLC, BJP to jointly contest MC polls: Capt Amarinder

Chandigarh: Punjab Lok Congress president and former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said his party and the BJP will jointly fight the elections to be held for four municipal corporations of Ludhiana, Patiala, Amritsar and Jalandhar.

Capt Amarinder made the announcement while addressing a meeting of the PLC candidates who contested the last assembly elections. BJP general secretary Subhash Sharma was also present at the meeting that took stock of the prevailing situation in the state. The performance of the party candidates in the last assembly elections was also reviewed.

The PLC chief said while people of Punjab had voted overwhelmingly for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) with great expectations, there was already a strong sense of disillusionment against the government sooner than it was expected. “Not only has the AAP government backed out on several promises and commitments, it has also hurt the pride of Punjabis by usurping their power and rights,” he said.

Capt Amarinder said that Punjabis will never tolerate an outsider like Arvind Kejriwal running the government from Delhi. He also pointed out as to how Kejriwal was conducting the meetings of Punjab officers in Delhi and issuing commands to them, calling it “unconstitutional” and “unacceptable”. He said the way Kejriwal was running the government, he would run Punjab into ground”.

Responding to the demands of party leaders that he should start moving across the state, the former CM said he will soon be announcing his statewide programme, visiting all the district headquarters in the first round followed by assembly segments.

Addressing the meeting, BJP state general secretary Subhash Sharma said that although the BJP-PLC alliance could not win many seats, a strong foundation has already been laid down. “While the immediate focus will definitely be on municipal elections, which are due within less than a year now, the alliance will be a formidable force in 2024 general elections,” he said.