Chandigarh: The BJP on Sunday claimed a boost to its base in Lehragaga with more than three dozen people from Patiala, Mansa, Sangrur, Patran and Lehragaga joining the party in the presence of Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini.The entrants included former workers and functionaries of AAP, Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal, besides social workers, businessmen, farmers, contractors and ex-servicemen.Welcoming them, Saini said the expansion reflected growing faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP’s development and welfare agenda.Targeting the AAP govt in Punjab, Saini said people had become “disillusioned” as the expectations with which they voted the party to power had not been met. He claimed people were now looking to BJP as an alternative.“The BJP is not a party that reaches out to people only during elections. It works continuously for public service and development,” Saini said.Among those who joined were Olympic awardee Manpreet Kaur, farmer Rampal Labbal, Nirmal Singh of a farmers’ union, businessmen Deepak Garg, Amitpal Singh and Sukhjit Sharma, social workers Dauli Ram, Tara Singh, Sushil Kumar and Mandeep Singh, property businessman Balwinder Singh and contractor Sukhwinder Singh.Saini said the latest defections indicated a “changing political environment” in Lehragaga and claimed AAP’s politics was moving away from issues concerning people, while BJP was focusing on development, good governance and public service.BJP state general secretary Ranjha Bakshi and other party office-bearers from Sangrur, Patiala and Mansa attended the joining programme.
