Punjab Cong confident of 'landslide win' in Ludhiana bypoll warns officials against power misuse

Ludhiana, May 26 (PTI) The Congress in Punjab on Monday exuded confidence over securing a "landslide victory" in the upcoming Ludhiana West Assembly bypoll and cautioned civic and police officials against the "misuse" of power "at the behest of AAP".
    Bypoll to the Ludhiana West assembly seat, necessitated by the death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi in January, will take place on June 19 and the counting of votes will be held on June 23.
    Addressing a press conference here, senior Congress leaders urged officials not to "succumb to pressure" or "sell their conscience" for a posting, while pointing out that the current AAP government will be in power for a year more.
    Party leaders Rana Gurjeet Singh, Pargat Singh, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Raj Kumar Verka, Sunder Sham Arora, Kikki Dhillon, and Barinder Dhillon were among those who attended the press conference.
    Replying to a question on the arrest of AAP MLA from Jalandhar Raman Arora in a corruption case, Pargat Singh dismissed the action as a "pre-election event" while pointing out that another ruling party legislator, Vijay Singla, had been before the Sangrur parliamentary bypoll.
    The AAP government eventually gave Singla a "clean chit", he said, adding that nothing will come out of the Jalandhar case either.
    Replying to another question, Singh demanded CBI inquiries into all corruption cases registered against AAP leaders. "But that is not going to happen as the AAP is the B-team of those who have to order the CBI inquiry, that means the BJP,"
    The former Indian hockey team captain and Congress MLA described AAP leaders as mere "social media content creators", saying they have not taken any decisive steps on the ground.
    Moreover, all those leaders from Delhi who were "running the show" in Punjab had FIRs registered against them in the national capital, he said.
    Congress MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh said a majority of the AAP's tenure in Punjab was over and it was a matter of one more year. The AAP "misused" the police to get its political opponents implicated in false cases, he alleged.
    The Congress leaders claimed that the party would do exceedingly well in the Ludhiana by-election as people were fed up with the AAP's "misrule".
    Replying to another question, the Congress leaders said, the party was united and its entire leadership and cadre will work to secure victory in the Ludhiana-West bypoll.
    The Aam Aadmi Party has fielded its Rajya Sabha member Sanjeev Arora for the bypoll. The Congress nominated former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, while the Shiromani Akali Dal has named Parupkar Singh Ghuman for the bypoll. The BJP is yet to announce its candidate.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)