Punjab Congress launches signature campaign against 'vote chori'

Chandigarh, Oct 1 (PTI) The Punjab Congress on Wednesday launched a signature campaign as part of the party's nationwide 'Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod' (vote thieves, quit throne) drive under which five crore signatures will be submitted to the Election Commission on October 15.

The party’s Punjab in-charge and former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Bhagel said 15 lakh signatures will be submitted from Punjab.

Baghel claimed the BJP has been “exposed completely” after the revelations made by party leader Rahul Gandhi on “vote theft” with “foolproof evidence”.

He also condemned the alleged “death threat” to Rahul Gandhi by a former Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) leader during a television debate and demanded enhanced security for the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha.

The Punjab Congress will organise a statewide 'Yatra' against “vote-theft” by the BJP, which will pass through all the districts to create awareness among the masses, Baghel said during a meeting here.

State Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring also claimed the party will secure at least 15 lakh signatures from Punjab against “vote theft” by October 10.

Warring said the people of Punjab are eagerly waiting to “get rid” of the AAP government, as they have realised that the ruling party has “destroyed” Punjab in every possible way.

He also welcomed former state minister Anil Joshi and activist Deepak Lamba into the party.

Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly, Partap Singh Bajwa, welcomed Joshi and Lamba into the party fold, and said there is a general feeling among the people of the state that only the Congress can redeem and retrieve Punjab from the "mess" the AAP has pushed it into.

Not only the leaders from the other political parties are joining the Congress, but members of the civil society, intellectuals and thought leaders are also looking forward to Congress with great hope and expectations, he claimed.

Joshi, a former BJP leader, was expelled from the saffron party after he criticised the Centre for "mishandling" the farmers’ agitation against the three now-repealed farm laws in 2021. Thereafter, he joined the Shiromani Akali Dal.

Joshi was elected Amritsar North MLA in 2007 and 2012 on a BJP ticket. He served as the local bodies, medical education and research minister in the SAD-BJP regime from 2012-2017.

After unsuccessfully contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Amritsar on a SAD ticket, he resigned from the Akali Dal last November.

In June, he rejoined the SAD in the presence of party president Sukhbir Singh Badal in Ludhiana. PTI CHS ARI