In Bathinda, litmus test for saffron party

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, February 5

Facing backlash on the issue of farm laws, the Bathinda Municipal Corporation elections scheduled for February 14 would be the first litmus test for the BJP. The saffron party is going it alone in the polls for the first time after its alliance with the SAD broke over the farm laws.

The BJP had contested 23 of 50 wards in the 2015 poll.

Punjab’s largest farm union BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) has announced that it would protest against BJP candidates and not allow them to hold rallies in cities as well in villages in the MC polls.

Lashing out at the Congress, BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan said, “Holding polls at the time when the farmers’ stir is going on is an attempt to divide the people. The polls could have been delayed or cancelled.”

Meanwhile, the Congress has roped in its key leaders, with an aim to win a majority on its own in the Bathinda MC for the first time. SAD chief Sukhbir Badal too held rallies for candidates in the city.