Cong raises Shambhu border issue

As the day of polling draws closer, Congress leaders have started raising the issue of the Shambhu border prominently in the Ambala City segment.

The Haryana-Punjab Shambhu border has been lying closed since February due to the barricades installed to stop the agitating farmers heading towards Delhi.

Congress leader and former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi during a public meeting, in support of Congress candidate Nirmal Singh, raised the issue of Shambhu border and accused the BJP of working against the farmers and the Sikhs.

Charanjit Singh said, “The Shambhu border has been sealed by the BJP government as if the people sitting on the other side belong to Pakistan. Our passage has been completely blocked by installing barricades. The farmers are not being allowed to go to Delhi. The economy of Haryana and Punjab revolves around farming. The farmers and labourers work in the agricultural fields, bring their produce to grain markets and run the markets in the cities. The BJP wants to kill the agriculture sector. Similarly, if someone talks about Sikhs, Punjabis and farmers, the BJP terms them terrorists.”

“The BJP is against Sikhs, farmers, Dalits and OBCs, while only Rahul Gandhi talks about the issues being faced by all sections of society. The Congress has worked to uplift Dalits and OBCs. Congress party has been getting tremendous support across Haryana and people are attending the events enthusiastically. I urge you to stay united, vote for the Congress, and we will open the Shambhu border. I am confident that the people of Haryana will teach a lesson to the BJP for betraying the Sikhs, farmers, Dalits and OBCs, he added.

During a rally held in Ambala City, recently, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had also announced that they would reopen the border if voted to power.

Similarly, Nirmal Singh, during his roadshow in the clothes market areas of Ambala City, raised the issue of Shambhu border with the shopkeepers and urged them to vote for the Congress to get the border reopened.

The traders and shopkeepers of Ambala City clothes market had been raising the issue of Shambhu border and claimed to have suffered heavy losses due to the closure of the border. As per the shopkeepers, a large number of customers used to come from Punjab for shopping, especially during the festive and wedding season, but due to the closure their sales had been affected severely.

Nirmal Singh said, “I understand the problem of shopkeepers because their business has been affected. Reopening of Shambhu border will be among our top priorities. We are getting a positive response from the people of Ambala City and the Congress will win in this segment.”

OUR PASSAGE COMPLETELY BLOCKED

The Shambhu border has been sealed by the BJP government as if the people sitting on the other side belong to Pakistan. Our passage has been completely blocked. The farmers are not being allowed to go to Delhi. The economy of Haryana and Punjab revolves around farming. — Charanjit Singh Channi, Congress leader