‘Form a grand alliance to take on SAD-BJP’
Monday, 29/09/2014
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=115628&boxid=58358&uid=&dat=2014-09-29
Jalandhar : PPP chief Manpreet Singh Badal on Sunday said that the main opposition Congress along with other opposition parties should contest the ensuing Municipal Corporation (MC) elections jointly to take on the ruling SAD-BJP combine in the state.
Manpreet said that apart from Congress, he wanted that all the like-minded opposition parties should come along and constitute a grand alliance to contest the MC polls due in November this year.
Addressing a press conference post paying tributes to Shaheed Bhagat Singh on his 107th birth anniversary in Nawanshahr, the PPP chief reached Jalandhar and announced the revamped jumbo PPP organisation with 2,500 office bearers.
He said that a five-member committee would be constituted to coordinate with Congress, so that strong and joint candidates could be fielded in the polls. “As MC elections were to be conducted by the State Election Commission, the chances of using foul means, muscle power, state government machinery and money flow could not be ruled out. It was important to field joint candidates to get maximum vote share under a grand alliance”, he said.
The party chief said that they wanted to re-launch the organisation on the auspicious day of the birth anniversary of Bhagat Singh. The 2,500 office bearers included a central committee, district presidents, general body and other key wings.
He said that post the Lok Sabha polls, all the units of PPP were dissolved. “The party re-organisation had begun soon after the parliamentary polls and the entire exercise took 45 to 60 days during which meetings were held in every district”, he added.
On the status of AAP in Punjab, Manpreet Badal said that the party was seemingly on a decline in the state. “Even as AAP has four MPs from Punjab and the party put up a good show in the parliamentary polls but the AAP wave has started fading away”, he said.
However, when asked that why did PPP failed to build a momentum like AAP despite being four years in existence, Manpreet said that perhaps his party was ahead of time. “Ours has been a fascinating journey all these years and we would take on Akalis in the MC polls and further gear up for the 2017 Assembly polls,” he added.
