Tribune Exclusive: Ravneet Bittu to 'act as a bridge between Punjab and New Delhi'

Nitin Jain 

Ludhiana, June 9

Congress turncoat Ravneet Singh Bittu on Sunday said he would be a bridge between Punjab and New Delhi after being sworn in as minister in the Modi government.

In an exclusive chat with The Tribune over phone from Delhi after receiving the formal invitation to be part of the new Union Cabinet being sworn in this evening, the grandson of slain Punjab chief minister Beant Singh said he was not expecting the call after losing the election from Ludhiana.

“It was an unexpected call which I received this morning following which I rushed to the Prime Minister’s residence, where I was told that I would be part of the Modi 3.0 cabinet,” Bittu said.

He said his nomination to the Cabinet has proved beyond any doubt that Punjab figures on top in the PM’s priority states.

“The BJP having lost all 13 seats in the state and still getting a Cabinet berth is Modi’s gift to Punjab,” he said.

Bittu, 48, said he would become a bridge between Punjab and the Centre to resolve all issues, especially pertaining to the farmers.

Maintaining that the farmers’ protest was among the major issues, the Congress-turned-BJP leader said he would talk to the farm leaders and take them along to PM Modi to get all their genuine demands met and bring a permanent solution to the issue.

He said Punjab would be among the major beneficiary states under the new Modi government.

“I will raise all the demands and issues of Punjab before the PM and will get them resolved at the earliest,” Bittu said.

He said bringing major infrastructure development projects and giving main thrust to agriculture, health, education, industry and the ‘deteriorating’ law and order situation would be on top of his agenda.

Having won three consecutive Lok Sabha elections since 2014 when Congress heavyweight Rahul Gandhi had brought him to the mainstream politics, Bittu lost this parliamentary poll from Ludhiana by over 20,000 votes to his friend-turned-foe Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring.

Earlier known as ‘Rahul’s soldier’, Bittu during this election called himself as ‘Modi’s man’.

In an election rally in Ludhiana, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had assured people to make Bittu a “big man” in case Ludhiana sent him again to the Lok Sabha.

Though Ludhiana did not send him to the Lok Sabha, the BJP is all set to make him a “big man”.