Amritsar, Punjab: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) would take a decision on whether or not to contest the Dhuri Assembly bypoll within a couple of days.
Bhagwant Mann, AAP Member of Parliament from Sangrur, said this after paying obeisance at Darbar Sahib, Amritsar on February 18. He alleged the bypoll would be another financial burden on the Punjab people, which could have been avoided.
Bhagwant Mann, AAP MP, during a roadshow in Amritsar on Feb 17
“Though AAP had secured a lead of 32,000 from Dhuri during the Lok Sabha elections, and stands a good chance to win this time too, such bypolls are an unnecessary burden on the exchequer as well as the people…. Once the date is out, the entire Punjab Cabinet and the Secretariat will shift to Dhuri to support the ruling alliance,” he said.
Mann alleged the Akali Dal had previously forced bypolls in Moga and Talwandi Sabo by making sitting Congress MLAs change their party. “These were held only to score political objectives. The practice of forcing byelections merely to achieve petty targets should be done away with,” he said. The AAP leader said he had taken up with his party colleagues and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia the delay in punishing the perpetrators of the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom. “The Chief Minister has asked for a report on why the delay is happening,” he said.
On AAP’s plans for the 2017 Punjab Assembly elections, he said the party was yet to discuss the issue. “We still have two years. But before that, AAP will make Delhi a model state,” he said.
Mann claimed AAP activists were eagerly awaiting the Punjab Assembly elections. “The party will not ignore the enthusiasm of its workers. We will develop the party structure here in the same way as we did in Delhi,” he said.