Nangal (Rupnagar), Aug 7 (PTI) The Congress’ Punjab in-charge Bhupesh Baghel on Friday claimed that the BJP had started feeling nervous over the “massive response” the grand old party was getting, and that is the reason it had “opened communication channels with the Shiromani Akali Dal for a possible alliance in the state”.
Addressing the ongoing ‘Har Booth, Congress Mazboot’ programme here, Baghel pointed out that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had asserted during his visit to Punjab in March that the BJP will fight the 2027 Punjab elections on its own without any alliance.
“But after seeing the massive response that the Congress is getting, the BJP has become nervous and has already started negotiations with the Akalis,” he observed.
SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday has ignited speculation on the erstwhile allies joining hands again for the assembly elections due early next year.
Referring to this meeting, Baghel said so far, the BJP was avoiding the Akalis, but now the party has felt the pinch and seems to be making way for an alliance.
The former Chhattisgarh chief minister further claimed that not only the BJP and the Akalis but also the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had started feeling nervous. He claimed that AAP knows that it is on the way out as people of Punjab are completely disillusioned with the government.
He said now that the people of Punjab had tried the Akali-BJP and AAP, they have realised that only the Congress can provide a stable and people-friendly government.
Speaking on the occasion, Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring reiterated that if the party allowed, he would like to contest against Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann so that he will make him realise the ground realities in the state.
Warring alleged that Punjab was being looted by AAP for elections in Gujarat and Goa. He said it is the hard-earned money of the Punjabis that is being splurged on advertisements in far-off lands like Goa and Gujarat. This must stop at the earliest, he added.
“We will not let AAP fight Gujarat and Goa elections with Punjab’s money,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Congress leader and former Punjab Vidhan Sabha speaker Rana K P Singh said the writing was on the wall and the Congress was set to form the government, adding that no power on earth can stop it.
Earlier in the day, while speaking at ‘Har Booth, Congress Mazboot’ programme in Balachaur, Baghel exhorted the Congress’ rank and file to ignore their small differences for the “big battle” ahead that the party is going to fight to “redeem” Punjab.
He said that during the last seven days, he had found that people of Punjab were looking forward to the Congress with great hope and expectations, and it is the duty of every Congressman to come up to the expectations of Punjabis.
Baghel said that after the Congress completes the district-level programmes, the party will launch the constituency-level programmes to reach out to as many workers as possible.
He said that while the elections are due in January-February, they might be advanced to November, adding that limited time was left.
Later, while replying to a question during the press conference, Baghel said that the party does not have any problem with anyone raising slogans in favour of any of the leaders.
However, when these people raise slogans and leave immediately, their intent becomes clear that they had only come to disrupt the programme, he said.
The Punjab Congress has been struggling with factionalism despite repeated assertions by the party leadership that efforts are underway to strengthen organisational unity ahead of the 2027 Punjab elections.
The infighting came to the fore when the Congress leadership on July 1 announced its decision to retain Warring as the state unit chief and appoint former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi as the chairperson of its campaign committee.
A section of leaders led by Channi opposed the move to retain Warring as the Punjab Congress president and sought his removal from the position. PTI SUN KSS KSS
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