NDA show of strength in Punjab tomorrow

Chandigarh : The NDA’s big show of strength at Bathinda and Amritsar on Sunday is intended to showcase the Narendra Modi-led government’s achievements in the past two years and project its future roadmap on development and education in the poll-bound state.Also, with these events the SAD-BJP coalition also hopes to shift the focus away from the “negative perceptions” incurred courtesy the film ‘Udta Punjab’.
However, BJP leader Shwait Malik dismissed the controversial film as a “conspiracy people of Punjab are well aware of”. “People of Punjab have self-respect. They will not allow those trying to make political gains by maligning their glorious past and heritage. They will give a befitting reply to opposition-sponsored attempts to show the state in a bad light,” the Rajya Sabha MP, one of the planners for the Sunday’s events, said.
The Bathinda rally, the first big political event in the state after the recently concluded elections in five states, will mark the SAD-led NDA’s poll journey for the 2017 elections. The event will see Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Akali top brass showcasing the Modi government’s achievements in the past two years.BJP president Amit Shah has left the formulation of the poll strategy for the state to the senior partner Akali Dal.Therefore, the attempt is to turn the two events into a collective show of strength. The Bathinda rally will be attended by Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal. His wife and Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur, along with colleague, Minister of State Upendra Kushwaha, will also be present.At the IIM Amritsar stone-laying ceremony, they will be joined by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and HRD Minister Smriti Irani. Apart from showcasing the “records of development and good governance”, facing an anti-incumbency of two terms the Akali-BJP coalition is banking massively on division of anti-NDA votes to steer it through what seemingly appears to be tough road at present.Meanwhile, according to Malik, the Bathinda rally will highlight the achievements of two years of the Modi government and prompt NDA workers to facilitate people to benefit from its “people-friendly policies”.The Bathinda event is being countered by Captain Amarinder Singh’s campaign from Jalalabad, the assembly constituency represented by the deputy chief minister.