Punjab BJP’s newly-appointed president Sunil Jakhar on Wednesday met the party’s national president JP Nadda to discuss the way forward in the border state. After the meeting, Jakhar asserted that the saffron party would start working on all the 13 parliamentary and 117 assembly segments in Punjab while working towards his main priority to make BJP the only alternative in the State.
Jakhar, after meeting Nadda at the national capital a day after his appointment to the party’s top post in Punjab, said that his first priority is to restore the people’s faith in democracy and politics in the bordering state.
At the same time, Jakhar steered clear of media queries regarding prospects of BJP reuniting with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), maintaining that any decision on alliance would be the party high command’s decision. “Any talks about forging an alliance in Punjab would be decided by the party’s central leadership,” he said.
However, Jakhar minced no words to say that the saffron party was at a disadvantage in the decades-long alliance with the SAD in Punjab as the BJP was restricted to only 23 assembly segments in the State. “In case of any possibility of any alliance in future, I think it should be ensured that the BJP should engage from a position of strength rather than a position of weakness,” he said.
Maintaining that BJP’s presence was only on 23 seats put of a total 117 while leaving a major share of segments, especially rural ones, for the Akali Dal, Jakhar said that his main focus would be to expand saffron party’s base in all the 117 constituencies.
“I have been tasked with an onerous responsibility. I will do my best to keep the trust of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and BJP president JP Nadda,” he said.
“My first priority is to restore the people’s faith in democracy and politics in Punjab, where there an atmosphere of anarchy, and to convey it to the people that BJP is there to stand by their side and work in their interest,” he said.
“Restoring people’s faith in democracy and establishing the BJP as the only alternative in Punjab will be the prime focus,” he said.
Jakhar claimed that Punjab is in a very miserable shape today with growing burden of loans and dwindling law-and-order situation. There is an atmosphere of fear across Punjab, he alleged, claiming that nobody feels safe in the state.
Jakhar, who quit the Congress in May last year to join the BJP, said: “People, who gave a mandate to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), are today feeling cheated…In such a situation, the BJP is the only credible alternative in Punjab as all other opposition parties, including the Congress, neither have the capacity nor confidence to raise people's voice.”
“The so-called recognized opposition party, Congress, has bowed down before the AAP government,” Jakhar alleged.
He added that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann dared them to look into his eyes and talk but they can't because he says he has kept everybody's account and would put them behind bars, Punjab BJP chief added.
Also sharing his picture with Nadda on Twitter, Jakhar tweeted, “Called on party national president Sh. J P Nadda ji this afternoon to express my gratitude for his trust in me. As Punjab BJP President, I assured him to work vigorously and take PM Narendra Modi Ji's vision of a prosperous Punjab across the state. My resolve to safeguard Punjab's interests and aspirations will be my guiding force, as always.”