Shwait Malik (Photo: YouTube/Rajya Sabha TV/File)
The internal dissent within the top state leadership of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Punjab was on full display at the ceremony held to mark the appointment of its new state president, Shwait Malik, with two former presidents openly voicing their discontentment over the state of affairs and asking the new incumbent to take everyone along with him.
In his speech, former state president Ashwani Sharma urged Malik that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan of ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’ must also be implemented in letter and spirit within the party. Even as other former state presidents looked on impassively, Ashwani Sharma said that he hoped that his ‘elder brother’ Shwait Malik will keep this suggestion in mind which will ensure the party’s victory in 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the next Assembly elections in the state.
Sharma said that it pained the workers of the party when they saw even a small state like Tripura delivering better results than Punjab. He said that if BJP could rise from two per cent vote share in Tripura a few years ago to forming the government this year, what was holding it back in Punjab.
Another former state president, Rajinder Bhandari, also spoke on similar lines earlier when he said that the party needed to introspect on the reasons why it won only three seats out of 23 during the 2017 Assembly polls.
It is no secret that Punjab BJP has been plagued by infighting and factionalism for long and there has been a distinct lack of cohesiveness which has harmed the party’s electoral prospects. The removal of Vijay Sampla as state president and the appointment of Jaitley-confidant Shwait Malik is also seen as a link in the same chain.
Earlier, Shwait Malik took charge of BJPs state unit in the presence of several senior partymen and a large throng of workers. Among those who spoke on the occasion and promised full support to him were National Secretary Tarun Chugh, former presidents Avinash Rai Khanna and Kamal Sharma, former minister Madan Mohan Mittal, outgoing president Vijay Sampla, state party in-charge Prabhat Jha and Punjabi singer Hans Raj Hans, who also regaled the audience with a song commemorating the ‘coronation’ of Malik.
Speaking on the occasion, Shwait Malik, attacked the Congress government for failing to fullfil poll promises despite being in power for over one year. Malik said the Captain Amarinder Singh led government should “either perform or quit”.
“During polls, Congress had announced unemployment allowance, raising shagun and old age pension. Rather than honouring such promises, the government stopped giving it to people,” said Malik. He also commented on the doubling of power tariffs in the state and the failure of Capt Amarinder Singh to implement his promise of total loan waiver of farmers.