Arvind Kejriwal spends his Lohri with Jalandhar traders

JALANDHAR: Nearly a week after traders and industrialists in Jalandhar took out a protest procession in the city against the SADBJP’s ‘unfriendly’ industrial policy in the state, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal addressed public meetings on a road show in the city’s markets and trading hubs on Friday.

The road show was organised by the party’s candidates in the four urban constituencies of Jalandhar and was being seen an attempt to reach out to the non-Sikh and Punjabi community, unhappy with the Badal government, in the city that has traditionally been a SAD-BJP stronghold.

While state convenor Sanjay Singh had held a meeting with the various trader groups in the city earlier last week, local leaders said the road show on Friday was mainly meant to consolidate the campaign of the party in the city through Kejriwal’s presence.

“It was decided to organise the event on Lohri as it is an important festival in Punjab,” said a local leader, who did not wish to be named.

Since the road show was also an attempt to connect with the local population in the city, the leader said that Kejriwal’s visit was also meant to infuse energy into the party’s door-to-door campaign in the last leg of the election campaign that will end three weeks later.

“There have been several resignations and in-fighting in the party in the Jalandhar unit. Kejriwal’s visit will set the ball rolling,” the leader said.

While Kejriwal has visited the city twice already in the last five months and has repeatedly addressed traders over the issue of VAT and IT Raids, the roadshow was only around the figure of Kejriwal as the face of the party.

Even as the roadshow was held merely a couple of days after Delhi deputy chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s statement asking voters to ‘vote for AAP keeping Kejriwal as CM in mind’, the leader kept mum on the issue.