CHANDIGARH: Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said that 2024 Lok Sabha elections are crucial as country needs stable and strong government which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is already providing.
The Punjab Lok Congress (PLC) chief was addressing a meeting of the party candidates who contested the February Punjab assembly elections.
The state BJP general secretary Subhash Sharma also attended the meeting, a PLC release said.
Singh said, given the geopolitical situation prevailing in the world, in view of Russia-Ukraine war, the country needed a stable, mature and strong leadership, which Prime Minister Modi is providing.
Singh said, the PLC and its ally the BJP will jointly fight the upcoming elections to be held for four municipal corporations of Ludhiana, Patiala, Amritsar and Jalandhar.
The meeting took stock of the prevailing situation in the state and also reviewed the performance of the party candidates in the last assembly elections.
Notably, PLC failed to win any seat in Punjab in the last elections. Aam Aadmi Party had stormed to power in the state winning 92 of the 117-assembly seats.
The Congress won 18, SAD 3, PLC ally BJP 2 and BSP 1. An Independent also emerged victorious.
Singh said, while people of Punjab had voted overwhelmingly for the Aam Aadmi Party with great expectations, “there is 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 alleged.
“Punjabis will never tolerate an outsider like Arvind Kejriwal running the government from Delhi,” said Singh.
He pointed out “as how Kejriwal was conducting the meetings of Punjab officers in Delhi and issuing commands to them”.
“It is unconstitutional and it is unacceptable,” he said, while adding, “the way Kejriwal is running the government, he will run Punjab into ground”.
Responding to the demands of party leaders that he should start moving across the state, Amarinder said, he will soon be announcing his statewide programme.
In the first round, he said, he will visit all the district headquarters followed by assembly segments.
Addressing the meeting, BJP state general secretary Subhash Sharma said, although the BJP-PLC alliance could not win many seats, a strong foundation has already been laid down.
He said, 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 predicted that 2024 election in Punjab will be primarily between the BJP-PLC alliance and the AAP with Congress and the Akali being reduced to margins. (PTI)
