Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash on Saturday said that the alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party and Punjab Lok Congress for forthcoming Punjab assembly polls is beneficial for both parties and expressed confidence of the alliance winning the election.
He said the BJP will fight the polls in the state with full enthusiasm.
The union minister, who is MP from Hoshairpur, said that there will be seat sharing talks with Punjab Lok Congress, the new party floated by former state chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh after his resignation from Congress.
"It is a good alliance which is going to be beneficial for both parties. When someone fights elections, he fights to win. We are the largest party in the country and we will fight the election with complete enthusiasm. We will talk about seat-sharing, on which seat they have to fight and on which seat we have to," Som Parkash told ANI.
The minister said Capt Amarinder Singh talks about "nationalism and nation" and people respect him. "He (Capt Amarinder Singh) had said that they should have an alliance with the BJP and he met Union Minister Shekhawat yesterday and decided that we would fight the election together. We have been holding talks with him for quite some time. He met Union Home Minister Amit Shah as well. Now as the election has come near, matters have been concluded," Som Parkash said.
Asked about Amarinder Singh floating the party months before the polls, Som Prakash said "the Congress did not respect him".
"The people of Punjab have seen that Congress did not respect him. Later on, he made his own party. He is a big name in Punjab. He has been the chief minister for so long. People respect him. Punjab is a border state and security of the borders should always be the priority. The Punjab government does not talk about it," Som Parkash, a former IAS officer, said.
He also referred to farmers ending their protest on borders of Delhi after Centre's decision to repeal three farm laws and also Gurnam Singh Chaduni, a member of Samyukta Kisan Morcha, deciding to float a political front in the run up to the Punjab polls.
"Since the farmers' protest has ended, we expect that we will see some positive results in the elections. The farmer brothers have gone back to their work. Some people want to fight the election. We have heard that Gurnam Singh Chaduni has said that some people want to fight elections. Whosoever wants to fight the election, they should. Everyone should get the opportunity," Som Parkash said.
Shekhawat had said after his meeting with Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday that the BJP and Punjab Lok Congress will fight the assembly polls together.
( With inputs from ANI )
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