In field with Dhaliwal, Kunwar Vijay Pratap conspicuous by absence at Mann’s meeting

Kunwar Vijay Pratap has been openly criticising the party for not taking any action in Bargari sacrilege case and also not completing several development works. He had been venting his disappointment with AAP publicly to the extent that a speculation started that he would be joining BJP in coming days.

Soon after he was nominated for Amritsar, Dhaliwal had met Kunwar Vijay Pratap at latter’s residence in Amritsar. Dhaliwal’s courtesy call to Kunwar Vijay Pratap was seen as his effort to take everybody along.

Days after he was nominated, Dhaliwal, in a post on X had shared several photos of an AAP workers meeting at Attari in which Kunwar Vijay Pratap was also present. Expressing gratitude, Dhaliwal had mentioned that “Kunwar Vijay Pratap and Jaswinder Singh especially came to the meeting to extend support to me”.

On Wednesday (April 3), Kunwar Vijay Pratap shard several photos Dhaliwal on X while “campaigning” in his favour in Ajnala and nearby villages.

On Thursday, Kunwar Vijay Pratap in a post on social media said that he was going from street to street, to be with people, was getting sewerage system cleaned, and was facing anger and discontentment of people. He also wrote that in Sandhu Colony in Amritsar (North), the sewage had overflown and entered kitchens. The sewage was mixing with drinking water. He also wrote that he had raised the issue in Vidhan Sabha also and asked the Municipal Corporation to resolve the issue. He also wrote that he was witness to anger among women against drug menace and he had directed the police to take action.

Meanwhile, in Chandigarh, Mann, who is also the AAP state president, took feedback from all the MLAs in these constituencies and discussed the election strategy based on that feedback.

In the first meeting, Mann met with the AAP candidate from Anandpur Sahib Malvinder Singh Kang, party leader Deepak Bali, Deputy Speaker VS Jai Krishan Singh (MLA Garhshankar), Santosh Kataria (MLA Balachaur), Cabinet Minister Harjot Singh Bains (MLA Anandpur Sahib), Dinesh Chadha (MLA Rupnagar), Dr. Charanjit Singh (MLA Chamkaur Sahib), Cabinet minister Anmol Gagan Maan (MLA Kharar) and Kulwant Singh (MLA Mohali).

In the second meeting, he met with the AAP Dhaliwal, Amritsar West MLA Jasbir Singh Sandhu, Amritsar Central MLA Ajay Gupta, Amritsar East MLA Jeevan Jyot Kaur and Amritsar South MLA Inderbir Singh Nijjar to discuss the election strategy for the Amritsar Lok sabha seat.

Sources said that the CM asked them to take positive agenda to the people. In the meetings, the MLAs sought to know from the CM if AAP was stitching up an alliance with Congress considering that candidates for four constituencies were yet to be announced. Mann, however, is learnt to have told them that there would be no alliance.

After the meeting Kang said, Mann government has ended the the drug mafia, sand mafia and corruption.

Kang further said that Mann instructed them to take positive agenda to the people, apprise people of all the decisions that the government had taken for the welfare of the common people. “Our positive agenda will get the support of the people in the holy land of Anandpur Sahib and the AAP will win the seat with a big margin”.

Kang said, “We have already fulfilled most of our guarantees so the people know that we deliver what we promise. All the issues of Anandpur Sahib, whether it is tourism or infrastructure in this area or about providing canal water to the fields, will reach the country’s Parliament.”

Keeping in mind the work done by the Mann government, the people of Punjab will give all 13 seats to the AAP. “Our government is continuously working against mining and corruption. The Mann government has not made any compromise when it comes to our people and our state and neither will it ever do so in future,” Kang added.

After the second meeting, Dhaliwal said that earlier, Congress and Akali Dal used to win alternatively but now the times have changed. “Now the AAP has come to power in Punjab and we will defeat Congress, SAD and BJP in Amritsar in the Lok Sabha polls too”.

Dhaliwal said that the CM, when he was an MP, had raised the issue of opening the international border for trade many times. “We also want our business to expand and our goods should be sold in all Asian countries. After winning the polls, industry and trade will be my priority. Amritsar got an international university during the time of Dr. Manmohan Singh, which former CM Parkash Singh Badal took to Bathinda. It is very important to bring an international level university to Amritsar and we will also build an international level stadium in Amritsar,” Dhaliwal said.

He said traditional parties had given a new candidate in every election. Neither Navjot Singh Sidhu (then with BJP), Arun Jaitley (BJP) and Hardeep Puri (BJP) did anything nor Taranjit Singh Sandhu (BJP candidate) is going to do anything. “Not only Amritsar but the whole of Punjab is standing against the BJP. He said that the people will only vote for the leaders who are among them 24×7,” Dhaliwal added.