Expressing concern over the use of government machinery and bullying by the ruling Congress party to win the upcoming Municipal Corporation, Municipal Council, and Nagar Panchayat elections, a delegation of Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) legislators would meet Punjab State Election Commissioner Jagpal Singh Sandhu on Monday to demand conduct of “free, fair, and fearless” elections.
“A delegation of the party MLAs would meet Punjab State Election Commissioner on Monday to demand free and fair elections. The Congress has not done anything for the people since it came to power. Now, to prove that people had supported them for their work, there is a fear of rigging to win the elections by any means,” said AAP’s senior leader and the Leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha Harpal Singh Cheema.
Cheema said that earlier, the SAD-BJP, while in power, had also done big business during the local bodies’ elections. “Even now, there is a fear that the Congress party would misuse the government resources and influence the elections in the intoxication of power,” he added.
“It is also feared that the Congress party could use its power to mislead the voters,” he said while appealing to the voters, not to come under any pressure from the government. “Choose the right and honest candidates in the elections to exercise the voting right independently,” he added.
Cheema also appealed to the people to raise their voice against the authorities, if they use any means to mislead them or use government resources to exert pressure. “AAP would fight against any kind of rigging in the elections,” he declared.
AAP ANNOUNCES 129 CANDIDATES FOR POLLS IN 10 LOCAL BODIES
Intensifying its preparations for the forthcoming Municipal Corporation, Municipal Committee, and Nagar Panchayat elections, AAP on Sunday announced its candidates in 10 local bodies comprising a total of 129 wards.
AAP Punjab unit president Bhagwant Mann said that AAP, which is contesting the upcoming local bodies’ elections in Punjab on its election symbol ‘broom’, will win all the seats.
He said that the party has announced candidates in 10 local bodies that includes Ajnala Nagar Panchayat, comprising 15 wards, Dasuya Municipal Council with 12 wards, Khanna Municipal Council, having 16 wards, Kothaguru Nagar Panchayat comprising of 11 wards, Kurali Municipal Council with 6 wards, Lalru Municipal Council (14 wards), Patran Municipal Council (11 wards), Patti Municipal Council (19 wards), Samana Municipal Council (20 wards) and Sri Hargobindpur Municipal Council, comprising five wards. Alleging that crores of rupees were being swindled in Municipal Corporations and Municipal Committees, Mann said: “To prevent such corruption, it is imperative that an educated and competent person be elected as people’s representative. With the party’s election symbol ‘broom’, political filth and contamination in the sanitation system would be cleaned from the streets.”
SEVERAL BJP LEADERS JOIN AAP
AAP Punjab unit on Sunday gained a major boost when several BJP leaders joined the party in the presence of senior party leader and the Leader of Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha Harpal Singh Cheema.
The leaders who joined AAP in Kapurthala left the BJP in protest against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s atrocities on the country’s farmers.
Among those joined AAP are BJP’s Kapurthala’s district minority morcha vice-president Balwinder Singh, district president Ravi Sidhu, general secretary Gaurav Khanna, district vice-president Gobind Singh, circle block president Sunny, district vice president Mohinder Singh, circle secretary BJP Punjab Jaspreet Singh, district vice-president Kuldeep Singh, block vice president Ramandeep Singh.
