Lok Sabha Elections 2024 | Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, Cong leaders to campaign for AAP's Kurukshetra candidate

Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and senior Congress leaders like Bhupinder Singh Hooda will campaign for AAP's Haryana unit president Sushil Gupta, who is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Kurukshetra.

The AAP and the Congress are constituents of the opposition INDIA bloc. While the AAP has fielded Gupta from Kurukshetra, the Congress is contesting the remaining nine Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Gupta said Mann, who held a roadshow in Kurukshetra last month, will join his campaign in the coming days.

Besides Gupta, 30 candidates are in the fray from Kurukshetra including the BJP's Naveen Jindal and the Indian National Lok Dal's (INLD) Abhay Singh Chautala.

"On May 13, Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda will join my campaign, on 14th Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann will come, on 16th (Congress leader) Bhupinder Singh Hooda will be in Kurukshetra while on May 17, Bhagwant Mann and (AAP leader) Sanjay Singh will campaign," Gupta told PTI.

He said he has requested the INDIA bloc leadership that Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Sachin Pilot should also visit Kurukshetra for campaigning.

"I am also expecting (Arvind Kejriwal's) wife Sunita Kejriwal to join the campaign in the coming days," he added.

On Kejriwal, Gupta said the people of Haryana love him.

He said, 'The BJP government may have jailed him, but how can they imprison his thinking."

Gupta exuded confidence that the AAP-Congress combine will win all the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana.

He said he has been receiving a good response from the public and his campaign is going very well.

"We are confident that an INDIA bloc government will be formed at the Centre after the Lok Sabha polls," he said.

Targeting his BJP rival Jindal, Gupta said, "I want to ask him that he was the MP from Kurukshetra earlier (2004-2014), what big developmental project did he undertake."

"Unemployment, inflation, farmers and women's issues are the dominant issues in the constituency. People want change this time. People are also angry that the BJP government in the state used lathis when any section, be it farmers, sarpanches or employees, raised its voice against them," he said.

He said that the three Independent MLAs withdrawing support to the Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini-led state government has also had an impact.

"People have started saying that the BJP government is on its way out. The BJP may have changed its chief minister (M L Khattar) and brought a new face (Nayab Saini), but people have made up their mind to oust the BJP both at the Centre and in Haryana," he added.

Gupta said the AAP has also demanded that the governor dismiss the "minority" Saini government and fresh polls be held.

On May 7, three Independent MLAs withdrew support to the BJP government and announced they would back the Congress. The government which has the support of two other Independents is now two short of the majority mark in the 90-member state assembly.

However, the House at present has an effective strength of 88 with Karnal and Rania assembly seats being vacant. The BJP has 40 MLAs, the Congress 30 and the JJP 10 in the House. The INLD and the Haryana Lokhit Party have one member each, while the total number of Independent MLAs is six.

From Kurukshetra, also known as the land of Mahabharata, Gupta said, "As I have said earlier, there will be a "dharam yudh" here. It will be against corruption, against what they did with farmers and against the drug menace."

On other issues being raised by him, the AAP candidate said, "We talk of good governance, we talk of good education, building good hospitals and better healthcare."

Polling for all 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana will be held in the sixth phase of the elections on May 25.