Candidates sign off with roadshows & rallies

Sanjiv Kumar Bakshi

Hoshiarpur, May 17

Candidates in the fray from the Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha constituency ended their election campaign by holding roadshows and contacting the voters personally. Congress candidate Dr Raj Kumar held a roadshow led by Cabinet minister Sunder Sham Arora.

Along with a large number of party workers and supporters, they marched through the roads of Hoshiarpur markets, adorning Congress Tricolor T-shirts, mufflers, caps and females wearing tricolor dupattas holding party flags. During the roadshow, Dr Raj Kumar kept meeting the shopkeepers, rickshaw pullers and all those who came across him in the markets. Dr Raj Kumar said his every effort would be for the development of the cities and villages of the Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha constituency.

Meanwhile, BJP state president and Rajya Sabha MP Shwait Malik headed a roadshow along with Yuvraj Bhupinder Singh, for BJP candidate Som Prakash. A large number of BJP workers participated. Malik described Som Prakash as an eminent IAS officer who was popular among the people as an honest and loyal leader who understood the pain and sufferings of the common people. The Punjab BJP president alleged that the Congress had failed to develop the area. Malik said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had fielded good candidates from the three Lok Sabha seats in Punjab.

BSP candidate Khushi Ram, in fray as the PDA candidate, signed off by holding a rally in which the leaders of the allied parties participated. Although it was said earlier that Sukhpal Khaira and the Bains brothers will address the rally, they didn’t turn up busy as they were in their own constituencies.

Randhir Beniwal, in charge of BSP in Punjab and Chandigarh, Punjab BSP president Rachpal Raju, Punjab chief of OBC wing of Lok Insaf Party Hardev Singh Counsel, RMPI secretary Comrade Mangat Ram Pasla, Bhagwan Das, in-charge Doaba zone BSP and the office-bearers of seven parties in the PDA, were present. Beniwal said the SAD-BJP and Congress had been able to hold big rallies due to money power, to woo the voters but the people had shown their strength at today’s rally. Punjab BSP president Raju said the Congress and SAD-BJP had fulfilled only the interests of the capitalists and the welfare of Dalits and the poor had taken a backseat.

AAP candidate Dr Ravjot Singh went door to door in the city markets along with a small group of party workers and sought votes for the sake of development of the area.

In Garhshankar, Congress candidate from Sri Anandpur Sahib, Manish Tewari, held a roadshow to sign off his election campaign. Accompanied by local leaders, Tewari claimed victory by a huge margin in the election.