Sidhu vouches for Bansal, spares Kirron Kher, attacks PM Modi

Thursday, 02/05/2019

http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

CHANDIGARH:Weeks after his wife locked horns with Congress candidate Pawan Bansal over ticket for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat, senior Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu referred to Bansal as a “father figure” while addressing a rally in his favour here in Sector 22 on Wednesday.

Interestingly, Sidhu spared local BJP candidate Kirron Kher and instead attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech.

Even as Sidhu has been addressing the party rallies elsewhere in the country, this was his first in the region. Sidhu’s wife, Navjot Kaur, had earlier accused Bansal of “fanning groupism and petty politics” but she lost out to Bansal in the race for the party ticket. Later, Chandigarh Congress even dropped Sidhu’s name from the star campaigners’ list sent to the party high command only to include it later.

Sidhus’ reconciling with the lost opportunity in Chandigarh was evident when the cricketerturned-politican spoke highly of Bansal. “Aapka josh and Bansalji ka hosh will do wonders for the city,” said Sidhu as he launched a scathing attack on the BJP at the rally.

He appealed to people to vote for Bansal’s track record. “He was promoted to ministries in the UPA time because of his proven merit and had played a vital role in keeping city’s character intact. while BJP was banking more on its false claims and promises, people of Chandigarh have seen the work done by Bansal and will vote for him,” Sidhu said. He also announced that he would hold another rally for Bansal on May 15.

NO WORD ON KHER, ONLY MODI BASHING Sidhu, however, did not mention Kirron Kher even once during his 30-minute-long speech and targeted only Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He said this election was not about a party but a victory or defeat of the nation. Mimicking Modi that sent the audience in splits, Sidhu said that his (PM Modi’s) 300 odd promises have turned out to be lies. “Where is ₹15 lakh in your bank account?” he said. Taking a dig at BJP’s campaign slogan ‘Ab ki baar Modi sarkar’, Sidhu retorted “Ab ki baar bas kar yaar” and asked the people to repeat it after him several times. He then raised Congress’s pet “Chowkidar Chor Hai” slogan.

He said Modi was seeking votes on the bodies of soldiers and farmers. “Army is meant to protect borders not to be used for election,” he said. He also challenged PM Modi for a debate. “If I lose, i will quit politics,” said Sidhu, getting applause from audience. Recently, he had said that he will leave politics if Rahul Gandhi lost the election from Amethi. ‘MODI IS RAFALE KA DALAL’

In a strong-worded attack on PM Modi, Sidhu said, “You came to power in 2014 as ‘Ganga ka lal’ but will leave as ‘Rafale ka dalal’.”

“Dalal ho tum, lo karo case mujh pe (you are an agent, file a case against me),” he said, adding a person who could not protect the Rafale jet deal file, how can he be trusted to protect the country.

He said Modi has surrendered country to crony capitalists like Ambanis and Adanis.