Bhagwali village residents oppose sitting MP Kataria from Ambala

Tribune News Service
Panchkula, April 23 

BJP candidate from Ambala Lok Sabha constituency Rattan Lal Kataria today faced embarrassment when residents of Bhagwali village of Raipur Rani block of the district asked him as to why he did not visit them during the past five years.

Interestingly, a video in this regard also went viral on the social media. The villagers alleged that whenever they visited Kataria's residence in Panchkula, they were told that either the MP was taking rest or they were asked to come some other day as the MP was ill and could not meet anyone. 

The villagers further claimed in the video that they had organised programmes to brief the MP about the development issues in the village, but the latter failed to give them time. They further said when Kataria had visited them to garner votes during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he promised development in the village, but he failed to visit them in the past five years. 

Kataria could be seen arguing with the villagers that it was not possible to move more than 16,000 villages in the nine assembly constituencies spread over 145 km from Kalka to area bordering Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. He, while seeking forgiveness, told the villagers to have faith in him and said he would push in funds for the development of the village.

Despite repeated attempts and messages, Kataria could not be contacted for his view over the issue. However, Deepak Sharma, district BJP president, said it was not possible for the MP to visit every village during the five-year tenure as he had to attend the Parliament sessions for 440 days. He said still the MP had told them that that if there were any shortcomings on his part he would try to remove these and work more vigorously for the welfare of people.

Video goes viral

• The villagers alleged that whenever they visited Kataria’s residence in Panchkula, they were told that either the MP was taking rest or they were asked to come some other day as the MP was ill and could not meet anyone. 
• A video in this regard also went viral on the social media.