Sanjeev Singh Bariana
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 3
State BJP president Ashwani Sharma has played down the absence of senior BJP leaders from the campaigning ahead of the Assembly elections, saying that each leader has been assigned a specific role.
“Unlike the SAD and the AAP that are centered on only one leader, the BJP is a democratic outfit that allows several leaders to voice their opinion. None of our leaders are projected as heroes. Each one is assigned a specific role,” he told The Tribune over phone today.
Parl board decides line of action
Senior leaders might not be visible during the campaigning. However, each leader is carrying out a specific role. The BJP’s parliamentary board decides the line of action. — Ashwani Sharma, state BJP president
In the run-up to the elections, senior BJP leaders, including Manoranjan Kalia, Avinash Rai Khanna, Vijay Sampla, Shwait Malik and Tarun Chugh, are not visible prominently on stages during the campaigning.
“Senior leaders might not be visible. However, each one is carrying out a role assigned to them. The party’s parliamentary board decides the line of action,” said Sharma.
The BJP leader is busy making last-minute arrangements for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Ferozepur on Wednesday.
“PM Modi is not coming here to address BJP supporters alone. He is coming for Punjab. Besides laying the foundation stone for the PGI’s satellite centre and paying tributes to martyrs at the Hussainiwala memorial, he will show us the vision for Punjab’s brighter future,” said the state BJP chief.
He sidestepped the question on Sir Hargobindpur legislator Balwinder Laddi rejoining the Congress only a week after he had joined the BJP. Instead, he said: “The BJP always welcomes like-minded people so that the menace of corruption, caste discrimination and unemployment can end. The party is working on ‘Naveen Punjab’. We are not forcing anyone to join us.”
Without giving any names of possible entrants from other parties, Sharma said: “The parliamentary board takes the final call on all those interested in joining the party.”
He claimed that farmers’ views about the BJP had changed after the Centre withdrew the three controversial agricultural laws.
“There is a perceptible change in farmers’ outlook after PM Modi withdrew the farm laws. I have toured at least 52 Assembly segments and did not face opposition from the public at any place,” added Sharma.
BJP not centered on one leader: Ashwani Sharma
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