Opt out of Jalandhar bypoll to support Cong: Bajwa to AAP

Punjab leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa on Thursday called upon Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to opt out of the Jalandhar bypoll as a mark of “Opposition’s unity” against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Bajwa was in Ludhiana to participate in the “Save Constitution March” along with Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and Punjab affairs in-charge Harish Chaudhary.

He said the AAP had not yet found any candidate for the bypoll scheduled on May 10, while the Congress which had a sitting MP there had announced former MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary’s wife Karamjit Kaur as its candidate. Santokh Singh Chaudhary died on January 14 due to cardiac arrest during Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Bajwa said, “Kejriwal had joined the chorus of support against Rahul’s disqualification and called the Opposition to unite. Let us start from Punjab and see whether you live up to your statements.”

The LoP said let the BJP and Congress have a one-on-one match to save democracy. He added it would send a positive message across the country.

Answering a media query on the absence of Navjot Singh Sidhu in the protest, Warring said he would join the party’s upcoming party events in Amritsar and other districts.

Warring said the AAP-led state government had failed to fulfil its poll promises and the increased inflation and sky-rocketing prices had further added to the burden on the common man. “The government has failed to woo investors and the existing ones are also planning to move out of the state,” he said.