Partap Singh Bajwa is Chief of the Opposition in Punjab Meeting
New Delhi:
A day after Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann revealed Aam Aadmi Occasion’s (AAP) plans to go solo in Punjab within the Lok Sabha polls, one of many state’s prime Congress leaders has ‘thanked’ the Chief Minister and stated that is “precisely what we needed”.
“That is what the Congress cadre in Punjab needed from the start. There’s a distinction between Punjab and different states. Right here, they (AAP) are within the authorities and we’re the principal opposition. How can each of us get collectively,” Partap Singh Bajwa, Chief of Opposition in Punjab Meeting, informed NDTV in an unique interview.
“If we get collectively, the anti-incumbency vote goes to shift, both to the BJP or to the Akali Dal. How can we relinquish our place? Congress is on the comeback prepare. This manner, we’ll end our existence. We’ve to protect our vote financial institution, and construct on it. That is significantly better for each (Congress and AAP),” he stated.
Mr Bajwa stated that the seats the AAP and Congress win will stay with the anti-BJP Opposition bloc anyway. “We’re combating (AAP) within the Vidhan Sabha and outdoors it. Day by day, the primary opposition is coming from the Congress. We’re on the streets of Punjab in opposition to them. How do you suppose we are able to sit on the identical stage with them,” he stated.
The Congress chief stated this isn’t his stand alone. “Each single Congress employee (feels the identical). Our normal secretary has been holding conferences with Congress staff, block president, district president, MLAs and former MLAs, MPs and former MPs, state get together presidents. 99.9 per cent of individuals with folded fingers have steered that we’d don’t have anything to do with AAP. “I want to thank Mr Mann, he has made our job a little bit simpler. That is precisely what we needed,” he stated.
He denied that such statements had been a part of bargaining techniques. “If our votes shift to a different get together, they will not come again through the 2027 Meeting polls. We’ve already seen such experiments in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. In Delhi, we helped these AAP guys to type their authorities in 2014. Since then, we’re nowhere to be seen. We do not need a comparable scenario in Punjab,” he stated.
Mr Mann yesterday sparked a buzz by saying that AAP is engaged on finalising candidates for all 13 Punjab seats. Quickly after, MP and Punjab co-incharge Sandeep Pathak performed down the remarks and stated the ultimate choice was but to be taken. “This isn’t new. Punjab unit had been saying from the start that they’re able to contesting alone. In the event you have a look at the native unit of Congress, they too say that they do not wish to forge an alliance. So, native items have their very own aspirations. The ultimate choice will likely be taken by the coordination committee, seat-sharing committee and the Excessive Command. Let’s look ahead to it. The earlier it’s executed, the higher,” he stated.
Mr Mann’s remarks had come shortly after the INDIA bloc suffered one other setback in Bengal, with Trinamool Congress supremo ruling out any alliance with the Congress within the state. In Bengal, too, state Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has been against an alliance with the ruling Trinamool in Bengal. The Congress management, nonetheless, has stated it can not think about INDIA bloc with out Ms Banerjee.