Claiming that BJP did not expect a contest from the Congress and the AAP nominees in the Gurdaspur lok Sabha by-election, party candidate Swarn Singh Salaria on Saturday exuded confidence that the saffron party would retain the seat with a big margin.
The seat fell vacant after the sitting MP, actor-turned-politician Vinod Khanna, died of cancer in a Mumbai hospital on April 27. Khanna was a four-time MP from Gurdaspur and has also served as Union Minister.
The BJP had, on September 21, named Salaria as its candidate for the October 11 bypoll. Khanna’s wife Kavita was also a frontrunner for the BJP ticket in the bypoll.
Salaria (63), a business tycoon, lashed out at Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh for the latter’s remarks against him. Singh had on Friday, taken a jibe at Salaria saying, “What can he (Salaria) do for the (Gurdaspur) constituency when he failed to run his own medical college in Chintpurni (in Pathankot), jeopardising the careers of 1,800 students.” He had also said the High Court had ordered the closure of the college and the state government had sought permission from the Medical Council of India (MCI) to accommodate the students in other medical colleges of the State.
Asked to respond to Capt Singh’s remarks, Salaria said, “The Chintpurni medical college was shut when I took over. I tried to revive it. You (Singh) should support and admire me for this. The college is in Punjab and it is your (Singh’s) responsibility as well to run it.”
He also rejected Singh’s claims that he had approached him for a Congress ticket in the bypoll. “He (Singh) is a senior leader and I respect him a lot. He should not level such false allegations,” Salaria said.
“I am a successful businessman. I own an airline, hotels, restaurants and a security company. I have a workforce of more than 70,000 people,” he added.
Salaria said he did not expect any contest in the bypoll.
The Congress has fielded senior leader Sunil Jakhar in the bypoll, while Major General (retd) Suresh Kumar Khajuria of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is also in the fray.