PM's Punjab Rally, Poll Slogan In BJP's New Year Campaign Launch

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PM's Punjab Rally, Poll Slogan In BJP's New Year Campaign Launch

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch his campaign for the Punjab election with a mega rally in the New Year, in a sign that the BJP means business in the state where it has always played the sidekick.
PM Modi may make big announcements in Punjab, sources say, in line with the pattern seen in Uttar Pradesh, where the launch of multiple projects has doubled up as BJP election rallies.



Details of schemes for Punjab and beneficiaries in the state are being prepped, and based on these the party will appeal directly to voters.

Reflecting its strategy to expand its footprint in Punjab, the party plans to debut a new slogan in the state - "Nava Punjab-BJP De Nal (the new Punjab is with the BJP)".

With the end of its decades-old alliance with the Akali Dal in Punjab, the BJP is prepping to go all in as the senior partner in its brand new alliance with former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa. "The next government in Punjab should not be formed without the BJP," said a top leader.

Sources say the BJP wants to contest 70 of Punjab's 117 seats - a vast improvement on the 23 seats it accepted in its partnership with the Akalis. Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress may be given 30-35 and Mr Dhindsa party, around 15.

Amarinder Singh, a former Chief Minister who quit the Congress last month and announced his own party, told reporters last week that while the alliance was a done deal, seat share talks were still on. The two sides had held nine rounds of talks before the tie-up announcement.

In its Punjab push, the BJP is also banking on defections from the state's ruling Congress, the Akali Dal and Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), sources say.

The party also believes that it has brought around a powerful voting bloc in Punjab - the farmers -- after PM Modi withdrew the three controversial farm laws that triggered a 15-month protest outside Delhi.

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/pm-narendra-modis-punjab-rally-assembly-election-slogan-in-bjps-new-year-campaign-launch-2664841