Reacting sharply to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s statement that the Aam Aadmi Party candidate Sushil Rinku will be the voice of Punjab in Lok Sabha, Phillaur MLA Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary said on Friday that how can someone who never raised people’s issues in the Vidhan Sabha be expected to be Punjab’s voice in the Parliament.
Speaking at public meetings in Sargundi, Jajja Kalan and Mehsampur villages of Phillaur assembly constituency in support of Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary, the Congress candidate for the Jalandhar by-election, MLA Chaudhary criticized the AAP candidate Sushil Rinku for failing to raise issues of his Jalandhar West constituents in the Vidhan Sabha during his time as an MLA.
Commenting on a recent speech made during a road show by CM Bhagwant Mann, MLA Chaudhary said that as per the records of Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Rinku did not raise a single question or participated in any debate in the Vidhan Sabha, and the only time he spoke there was when taking oath, adding how he could then be trusted to raise the concerns of the people in the Parliament.
On CM Mann’s comment that Goraya–Nakodar road was in a terrible shape, MLA Vikramjit Chaudhary said it was because of the AAP government’s anti-development policy that the road was still under construction.
“The previous Congress government approved a grant of over six crore rupees for the road and the work had started, but after coming into power, the AAP government delayed the work. By making this ill-conceived statement, CM Bhagwant Mann has actually acknowledged the failure of his administration,” he said.
He further stated that instead of starting new development works in the state, the AAP government recalled the development grants released by the previous Congress government, adding that the AAP government even stopped the work of state-of-the-art Dr BR Ambedkar Museum at IK Gujral Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar which was started by former CM Charanjit Singh Channi.
Questioning CM Bhagwant Mann’s claim of giving Rs 15,000 per acre as crop loss compensation, MLA Chaudhary asked if the chief minister was intoxicated when making this claim, as no farmer in Punjab had gotten their due compensation.
He urged the people of Phillaur to vote for Congress candidate Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary, stating that only the Congress can bring development and progress to Jalandhar, and cautioned the people to reject the false promises of the AAP.