Let’s see how Ravneet Bittu will tackle farm issues, says Partap Singh Bajwa
Rajmeet Singh
Chandigarh, June 10
The elevation of Ravneet Bittu as Union minister is a disrespect to voters who had not sent him to Parliament, said Punjab’s Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa on Monday.
“It is a matter of precedent that the BJP always gives ministerial berth to the candidates who lose the elections in Punjab. Be it Arun Jaitley, Hardeep Puri and Ravneet Bittu. All will be brought to Parliament through the Rajya Sabha route. The message the BJP leadership wants to convey is that the party does not respect public sentiments,” said Bajwa told The Tribune.
A precedent to select loser
It is a precedent that the BJP always gives ministerial berth to the candidates who lose election in Punjab. Be it Arun Jaitley, Hardeep Puri and Ravneet Bittu. All will be brought to Parliament through the Rajya Sabha route. The message the BJP leadership wants to convey is that the party does not respect public sentiments. —Partap Singh Bajwa, Leader of opposition
The former MP from Gurdsapur said instead of giving legal guarantee on the MSP and working on opening the border trade with Central Asia and Europe through Pakistan, the BJP was trying to build a false narrative that it was pro-Sikh and pro-Punjabis.
“It seems that the BJP has put an economic embargo on Punjab as no major industry or project has been given to the border state. Instead, its leaders overtly and covertly disturb peace in the state by indulging in reverse polarisation to provoke the Panthic elements. The win of Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa from Faridkot and Amritpal from Khadoor Sahib are the examples of fringe elements being given political space,” he said.
Coming back to Ravneet Bittu, who had earlier accused Bajwa of not being loyal to his party, the CLP leader said the turncoat had never worked for the party. The BJP seemed to have picked Bittu for its political designs for the border state.
“Bittu talks of bridging the gap between the Centre and Punjab and extending a red-carpet welcome to farmers by the PM. Two major issues of Punjab are jawan and kisan. Let’s see how would he get the Agnipath scheme scrapped and give legal guarantee on MSP?”, said Bajwa, adding that the NDA allies had already raised the issue of reviewing the scheme.
He was quick to point out that Punjab got the hostile treatment when the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government had given special tax benefits to hilly states like Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand, leaving out the border state of Punjab.
“This resulted in the industry shifting to the neighbouring states. At least the BJP should give some economic package to the border state like giving tax holidays to the industry. This will be help Punjab come out of economic crisis”, said the former PPCC chief.
‘BJP vote percentage will dip’
Partap Bajwa said the BJP’s religious agenda would not sell for long. Cutting across all faiths, voters in Punjab would return to their traditional parties in the next Assembly elections and the vote share of the saffron party would fall drastically. The reverse polarisation by the BJP has resulted in the fringe elements raising their head. Taking a dig at BJP Punjab chief Sunil Jakhar, Bajwa said he should resign for the party as the BJP had got no seat in the elections.
