More than 75 years after the launch of ‘Quit India’ movement, the saffron brigade on Sunday sounded the poll bugle in Punjab for 2019 Lok Sabha elections by modifying the slogan to “Congress Quit Punjab” as the Rajya Sabha MP Shwait Malik took over the party reigns.
Giving the new slogan of ‘Congress quit Punjab’ and “gaddi chhodo” (leave the throne), Punjab BJP’s newly-appointed president Malik called upon the party workers and leaders to take it as their pledge and took the party’s fight to the streets to awake the Congress from its deep slumber.
At the same time, Malik throw a challenge to the Congress Government and the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to “either perform or quit”.
“Congress government had made tall promises before coming to power, and then it started asking for three months to perform, and then kept on extending the deadline to three months more, and three months more. But, not now after it completes one year! I challenge them to either perform or quit,” said Malik followed by loud sloganeering by the excited party cadre.
Lashing out at the Congress and Capt Amarinder, Malik said that the Congress promised unemployment allowance and smart-phones for youth, raising amount of Shagun and old age pensions. “Instead of fulfilling those promises, the government has stopped giving all the welfare benefits to the people,” he added.
Malik urged the party workers to take Narendra Modi to every household and won all 13 seats in the impending 2019 parliamentary polls.
Most of the leaders, who addressed the gathering, make the most of the stage to exhort the party cadre to gear up for the 2019 elections, and ensuring party’s victory on all seats, besides sending across the message to the new chief to “take everyone along”. Notably, the state BJP unit was facing strong factionalism with the party divided into two factions led by senior leaders.
Party’s national vice-president Avinash Rai Khanna asked the senior party leaders present on the podium and all workers attending the event, to “get together” saying that this way “we will win not only all the seats BJP will contest, but also help our ally to win its share of seats too”.
Similarly, former state party chief and former MLA Ashwini Sharma too urged Malik to “take everyone along”, and “give the party worker duties as per their abilities which will ensure party’s victory not only in 2019, but also in 2022 elections”.
Expressing concern over the BJP’s declining graph in the state, another former state president Rajinder Bhandari stressed upon the need for “introspection” in the wake of BJP wining just three out of 23 seats allotted during 2017 assembly polls.
SAMPLA SEES CONG HAND BEHIND 'BHARAT BANDH’
Union Minister and the outgoing Punjab BJP chief Vijay Sampla cautioned the party workers to be aware of the ‘false propaganda’ on the issue of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, while blaming the Congress party for hatching conspiracy against the BJP Government at the Centre over the issue.
“A Bharat Bandh was observed on April 2 but no one knows which party or organization was behind this but it caused a major political upheaval. Another similar bandh call was now said to be given by the general category and OBCs for April 10, and no one know who’s behind it,” said Sampla while accusing the Congress of hatching a conspiracy against Modi government’s good works.
In the same breath, he made it clear that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had stated that he would not let any change in the reservation system till the time he was in power.
MALIK MET OFFICE BEARERS, HEADS OF DISTRICTS AND WINGS
Hours after he took over the party reins, Punjab BJP’s newly-appointed president Shwait Malik met the members of the core group, party’s state office bearers, districts presidents and heads of different wings.
During the meeting, discussion on state and national politics was held, besides informing the leaders regarding the party’s series of programmes in the near future, he asked them to gear up the party cadre for the same.
BJP’s state organizational general secretary Dinesh Kumar said that the party is organizing a national level protest dharna on April 12 under which all SAD-BJP workers, including the MPs, will participate against the opposition parties, especially the Congress, that did not let the Parliament run smoothly resulting in complete washout of second edition of budget session.
He said that the party will celebrate birth anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar from April 11 to May 5, and on April 18, Gram Safai Yojna will be organized, Gram Udyogic Abhiyan on April 28, Kisan Kalyan Karyashala on May 2.