CHANDIGARH,may 14:
All poll promises cannot be completed in two years, said Preneet Kaur, the Congress candidate from Patiala and wife of Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh. Defending the Congress government in the state, Kaur told Zee Media, “Promises made during elections cannot be completed in 2 years time. Despite empty coffers, the Congress has been waived off farmers’ loans. Remaining poll promises will be completed in three years.”Kaur won the Patiala Lok Sabha seat for three consecutive times in 1999, 2004 and 2009, but lost in 2014 to Dr Dharamvir Gandhi who contested on Aam Aadmi party ticket. “In 2014, AAP’s ideology led to the victory of Dharamvir Gandhi, but then he quit the party, and AAP is in ruins in Punjab,” said the former union minister.
This time, Kaur is facing sitting MP Gandhi who’s contesting on Nawan Punjab Party (NPP) ticket, Shiromani Akali Dal candidate Surjit Singh Rakhra and AAP’s Neena Mittal.“The thing that was there in 2014, no longer exists. In 2014, AAP’s thinking was prevalent but that changed in two months. People were emotionally charged and voted for change but this time they are thinking before voting,” she said.
Addressing the issue of nationalism, Kaur said, “No one should question anybody’s nationalism. Congress has always put national interest above party’s interest.”As many as 278 candidates are in the fray for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab where polling will be held on May 19, the last of the seven-phase general elections.According to the chief electoral officer, Punjab has a total of 2,07,81,211 voters, out of which 1,09,50735 are male and 98,29,916 are female, while 560 belong to the third gender.
