Bittu alleged that AAP's own local MLAs from Punjab's Ludhiana were not supporting the candidature of Rajya Sabha member Sanjeev Arora from Ludhiana West. (X/@RavneetBittu)Urging people of Ludhiana to vote for “Viksit Bharat, Viksit Punjab, Viksit Ludhiana, Viksit West”, Union Minister of State and senior BJP leader Ravneet Singh Bittu said Sunday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “love for Punjab can be gauged from the fact that even as he (Bittu) lost the election from Ludhiana, he was made the Union minister”.“The only aim of BJP-led Central government is to develop the entire nation. For Punjab, a beginning in this direction can be made from Ludhiana. Look at PM Modi’s love for Punjab. Even as I lost the Lok Sabha election from Ludhiana last year, he made me a Union minister. He did so because he wanted a Punjabi in his Cabinet who can work for Punjab’s development. Earlier also there were Sikh faces in his Cabinet such as Hardeep Singh Puri but he wanted someone from Punjab. I urge people of Ludhiana to vote for BJP candidate Jiwan Gupta if they want that Ludhiana should be developed,” said Bittu, addressing a press conference.“He has not just made me a minister but given extremely important portfolio like Railways. Recently, we opened Chenab Bridge worth Rs 43,000 crore in the border state of Jammu & Kashmir. Punjab is also a border state which deserves such huge projects. The only way to get them is to have BJP in power in Punjab. Otherwise, other states have already raced ahead of us,” said Bittu.Referring to the PM’s security breach incident in Punjab in 2022, Bittu targeted the then CM and Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi.“Why did Channi keep hiding in the US for one and a half year if he was so right? It is only because of his poor administration that PM Modi, who was scheduled to announce multi-crore projects for Punjab that day, returned without doing so,” said Bittu.Attacking the AAP-led Punjab government for “widespread corruption” in the state, Bittu said: “Recently, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation’s superintendent engineer Sanjay Kanwar, who was arrested for corruption, has told vigilance in his statement that he used to give shares from the bribe amount to the incumbent MC commissioner and also his predecessors. Which corruption-free governance does Bhagwant Mann talk about?”Bittu alleged that AAP’s own local MLAs from Ludhiana were not supporting the candidature of Rajya Sabha member Sanjeev Arora from Ludhiana West.Story continues below this adHe cited Mann’s recent acknowledgement that “a Cabinet berth for Arora was not guaranteed”.“The AAP’s only objective behind fielding Arora appears to be the facilitation of Arvind Kejriwal’s entry into the Rajya Sabha,” said Bittu.He said similarly, in the Congress, “party’s state president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring was not allowed entry in the West constituency and he is not campaigning for their candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu.”“Warring goes in some other constituency, addresses workers and gets photos clicked. He is not allowed to enter the West where election is happening,” said Bittu.Bittu appealed to the electorate to cast their votes in favour of the BJP, and not to “waste their votes on AAP and Congress”.Story continues below this adBittu also launched a scathing attack on CM Mann, alleging a “profligate expenditure on a five-star hotel stay in Ludhiana during his campaign for the AAP candidate”.Meanwhile, BJP’s senior leadership, including national general secretary Tarun Chugh and Delhi minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, too campaigned in Rishi Nagar.Chugh said that people should not consider this bypoll as a formality because it will help them lay foundation for the next Assembly elections in 2027.Sirsa said that people from Delhi voted out AAP and now they are sitting in Punjab to loot all the resources of this state. He said people in Punjab should give a befitting reply to the ruling party and send them from here as well because only then they can save their state.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:Ravneet Bittu