Paswan woos migrant labourers for LJP in Punjab polls

Ludhiana, Feb 9 (UNI) The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) may not have a major presence in Punjab, but its president and Union Fertilizer Minister Ram Vilas Paswan today sought to remind the migrant labourers, particularly those from Bihar that they had a major stake in the prosperity of this border state.

'' I have come here to ask you to vote for the LJP in the assembly polls,'' he said while addressing an election rally in the Janakpuri locality, a slum area in the Ludhiana East constituency.

He sought to remind the Bihari labourers that during the phase of terrorism in Punjab, they braved the AK-47 assault rifles and came here to work in the agricultural fields and industrial units. He appealed to all the poor to come together and vote for the LJP candidates.

Referring to his stint as telecommunications minister, Mr Paswan claimed credit for revolutionising the telecom sector. '' Policies were framed that led to a drop in the telecom tarrif and the telephone became a part of a 'garib's' household,'' he added.

Taking the BSP to task, he said that it had failed to protect the rights of the dalits. On the other hand the BJP was only preaching communal politics and was politicalising the price rise issue, he said.

In his election speech the LJP president did not criticise either the Amarinder government nor the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), an electoral ally of the BJP. He however made it clear that his party was fighting the Punjab polls on its own and alliance with the Congress was only confined to the Centre.

''In Punjab our fight is not to get power, but to provide justice to the poorer classes'', he said. In society, justice had become very expensive and the poor could not afford it, he added.

Later at a press conference, the Minister disclosed that in the coming Parliament session, a bill would be introduced to bring 354 life saving drugs under the control of the government. A health insurance scheme for the poor was also on the anvil, he added.

UNI