AAP, Congress behind Punjab farmers protest, says BJP’s state chief Sunil Jakhar Mediainsights.in

Jakhar, the former Congress leader, has accused the AAP and the Congress of denying the saffron party the right to campaign ahead of June 1 election to 13 Lok Sabha seats of Punjab.

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Farmers are preventing BJP candidates from entering into Punjab villages. BJP leaders, for example, were reportedly booed and greeted with black flags in the Malwa and Majha belts of Punjab during the election campaign.

“The protests are largely scripted. AAP and Congress workers have infiltrated the protests and are trying to deny the BJP its right to campaign. This can have dangerous consequences as these elements can orchestrate violence against the farmers to present the BJP in a bad light. However, people are now aware of the ill designs of the AAP and the Congress,” Jakhar said in an interview with the Indian Express.

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On May 6, Jakhar filed a complaint with Punjab’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) C Sibin alleging that the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government had failed to ensure the right to campaign.

All 13 Lok Sabha seats of Punjab will vote in single phase on June 1. The BJP is contesting the Lok Sabha elections in Punjab alone, without the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), for the first time since 1996.

In 2019 elections, the Congress won 8 of the 13 seats, the SAD and the BJP won 2 each while the AAP won one seat. Jakhar, the former Congress unit head in Punjab joined the BJP in May 2022.

Also Read: Lok Sabha Elections 2024: 60% updated voter turnout in phase 5 polling, slightly less than 2019

As many as 57 seats across 8 states, including Punjab, will vote in the seventh and the last phase of elections on June 1. 

With voting in 49 seats being held on Monday, the election to more 428 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats is over. The remaining two phases will be held on May 25 and June 1. Counting votes for all seven Lok Sabha Elections phases will occur on June 4.

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Published: 21 May 2024, 07:53 AM IST