In Barnala, Kejriwal, Mann make development pitch

AAP supremo and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today called upon the people to elect Harinder Singh Dhaliwal as an MLA if they wanted execution of development works in the Barnala Assembly segment.

Addressing a rally, Kejriwal said, “Dhaliwal will remain 24 hours with you. Give him your blessings by voting in his favour. The people say that Barnala is a capital of AAP. The party has won every election from Barnala since its formation in 2012.”

Kejriwal said the state government had identified land for setting up an industrial focal point in Barnala, besides setting up of a trauma centre at the Civil Hospital and four-laning of the Barnala ring road.

He said after formation of the AAP government in 2022, the farmers had started getting water from Harigarh Canal in Barnala for irrigation purpose, besides work on the re-lining of Barnala distributary had also started to make it pucca. Even water supply and drainage system worth Rs 87 crore had been passed for Barnala city, said the AAP supremo.

Kejriwal added that the AAP government had provided free power up to 300 units per month due to which consumers had been receiving zero bills. Hundreds of mohalla clinics had been established and around 48,000 jobs had been given to the unemployed youngsters, he added.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said he had been seeking votes for the AAP candidate on the basis of development works done in the last two-and-a-half years.

He said AAP had even succeeded in changing manifestoes of the Opposition parties as they had also started talking about schools, hospitals and infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the Barnala police today detained 28 members and leaders of the Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF) as they reached near the venue of rally. They were protesting against non-fulfillment of their demands.

Raghbir Singh Bhawanigarh, vice president, DTF, said they were let off after the departure of Kejriwal and Mann from the venue.