After its “week-long efforts” ensured exit of local MP Pawan Kumar Bansal from the Railway Ministry, the Chandigarh BJP has now embarked on another round of protest against Bansal.
The city BJP has launched citywide door-to-door campaign to step up pressure on Bansal to resign from the membership of lok Sabha seat of Chandigarh.
To capitalise on the issue of Railway Board Bribery Scam which resulted in Bansal’s resignation from Cabinet, the party on Friday initiated 10 days long “Jan Jagran Abhiyan” to apprise the city denizens about the involvement of local MP in several scams. For this, the party has released a pamphlet having caricatures of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and local MP Bansal depicting Rail Board Bribery Scam. The BJP pamphlets which would be distributed door-to-door across the city also enlisted the details of Rail Gate, Bansal’s indictment in UT Booth Allotment scam and DPS school controversy.
Besides, the pamphlet is studded with hard-hitting slogans like “Gali Gali mein Shor hai, Mama Bhanja Chor hai”, “Mama Bhanja ka Dekho Khel, loot Kar Kha Gaye Bhartiya Rail among others.”
Through the pamphlet, the party has also made an appeal to the residents to support BJP in their fight against corruption and corrupt ministers like Bansal. The party has also pleaded the citizens to wake up to fight against corruption and demand Bansal’s resignation from the Chandigarh lok Sabha seat.
The party’s door-to-door campaign will continue till May 27 and the party workers led by senior leaders would try to strike a chord with the city residents prior to lok Sabha elections scheduled next year.
BJP national general secretary P Muralidhar Rao said, “The party’s campaign is aimed at spreading awareness about corrupt practices of the local Member Parliament Pawan Kumar Bansal. The party would continue demanding the resignation of Bansal from lok Sabha seat of Chandigarh.”
He said, “Chandigarh is now discussed in context of Rail Scam and Helicopter Scam. The involvement of local MP in corruption scandals has brought shame to the name of the City Beautiful.”
Chandigarh BJP president Sanjay Tandon said, “The party’s door-to-door campaign would cover all the areas of the city and pamphlets would be disturbed across the city during the campaign.”
Geared up to raise previous scams against Bansal in the city, Tandon said, “The party would also raise the issue of UT booth allotment scam which has been brushed under the carpet by the higher authorities.”
He added, “After the ten days ‘Jan Jagran Abhiyan’, the party would start ‘Jail Bharo Andalon’ in the city from May 27 onwards.”
After the arrest of Bansal’s nephew Vijay Singla by the CBI for accepting bribe to fix plum position in the Railway Board, the Chandigarh BJP had organized a number of protest demonstrations across the city demanding Bansal’s resignation from the Cabinet.
From starting a signatures campaign to actively making use of social networking platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, the local party leaders remained proactive to take their campaign against Bansal to the large number of people. local MP Bansal had resigned from the post of Railway Minister on May 10.