Vote for BJP in Jalandhar bypoll to strengthen Modi: Amarinder

Jalandhar, May 4 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday called upon people to vote for party candidate Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal in the Jalandhar bypolls to strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"The Jalandhar by-election will set tone for the 2024 general elections in Punjab which are very crucial for the country's future", he said while addressing a public meeting here.

The former Chief Minister maintained that the country needed Modi as the Prime Minister for five more years at least to further strengthen and consolidate its position at global and domestic level.

He contended that under Modi's leadership, India was being looked upon as a great nation as it had emerged strong, powerful and independent in its decision-making.

Amarinder Singh said that the economy had stabilised during the BJP government as compared to other countries like the US where banks were crashing and the economy was in dire straits.

He said the country had emerged stronger and had stood up to its enemies like China and Pakistan.

The BJP leader lashed out at the Aam Aadmi Party government in the state, saying it had completely failed the people's expectations despite getting a landslide victory.

He alleged that the AAP government was being dictated from Delhi and that was the reason its priorities were misplaced and quite contrary to the expectations of the people of Punjab.

He said there was massive exodus of youth from Punjab as they were migrating to foreign countries because there were no jobs in the state. He reminded the AAP government of its promise of providing jobs to people in which it had miserably failed.

Making a strong case for Atwal, he said, he had a vast experience of serving the people. Besides, he pointed out, the Atwal family had served the people of Punjab for two generations with a clean and spotless record.

Atwal appealed to the people to vote for him to ensure the development and welfare of the state. He said the BJP was the future of Punjab as all others had failed.

Among those present on the occasion included MP Hans Raj Hans, former minister Balbir Singh Sidhu, former MP Amrik Singh Aliwal, Raninder Singh and Avinash Chander.