Campaigning hots up for Phagwara bypoll

Ashok Kaura
Phagwara, October 17

It was a hectic day for political parties here today as various party leaders were busy in roadshows and rallies for the Phagwara Assembly bypoll.

The BJP organised a roadshow in support of BJP candidate Rajesh Bagha in which Bollywood actor-cum-BJP MP Sunny Deol also took part. The latter could not cover the entire route and left the roadshow in midway due to his prior engagement in Mukerian. Meanwhile, Congress candidate Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal accelerated his poll campaign as he visited a large number of villages and held rallies.

Punjab Minister Sunder Sham Arora, who is also the in-charge for the Phagwara byelections, termed Sunny Deol’s roadshow as a flop show. He alleged that Deol could not come up to the expectations of people and rushed to Bollywood immediately after the poll. However, Punjab BJP president Shawait Malik said today’s roadshow was successful to ensure the victory of BJP candidate Bagha. Meanwhile, BSP candidate Bhagwan Dass took out a motorcycle rally to get the support of voters. Punjab BSP president Jasbir Singh also attended the rally. AAP candidate Santosh Gogi, along with AAP state spokesperson Kashmir Singh Malhi today held public meetings at seven villages.