BJP shedding off 'notebandi' tag; opposition not raking it up either in Punjab

PATIALA| FARIDKOT | AMRITSAR: Demonetisation does not appear to be a hot-button issue in Punjab. ‘Notebandi’ is something BJP seems to be steering clear of and the Opposition is not actively raking up in the run-up to February 4 election.

Poll-related conversations centre on the “misrule” of the SAD-BJP government, the effect of AAP’s entry and whether Congress would scrape through and form the government. Congress MLA Preneet Kaur, who is campaigning for her husband Captain Amarinder Singh in Patiala, said: “We are not talking about it.

People know what difficulties they faced. In an assembly election, there are other issues to talk about, like local problems of Patiala and the promises we in the Congress are making.”

Her son Raninder, who is campaigning for his father in Lambi, is sticking to the local agenda and skips demonetisation completely in his meetings.

“Notebandi dealt a major blow to us,” said Sukhdeep Singh, a farmer in Kotkapura, even as he commented that the impact was greater on the rich. BJP candidates appeared to be taking care to avoid any mention of the issue.

In Amritsar city, none of the party’s candidates referred to demonetisation in public meetings. Anil Joshi, the party’s candidate from Amritsar (North), said at Guru Gobind Singh Park: “I must be the only MLA in Punjab whose name even a child knows in the constituency.”

BJP’s candidate for Amritsar Lok Sabha bypoll RMS Chhina had a joint rally with Joshi. The two candidates stressed on the need for carrying on PM Modi’s development agenda. The party’s Amritsar (East) candidate Rajesh Honey, who is taking on Congress’ Navjot Singh Sidhu, spoke about how he can provide better governance to the area than Sidhu.