CHANDIGARH: It was a ‘housewarming party’ with a difference. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Punjab on Wednesday, spent considerable time with ex-Congress leaders who have joined the BJP, making them “feel at home,” sources said.
Modi also took feedback as he listened to them for 45 minutes after inaugurating the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre at Mullanpur in New Chandigarh.
Sources said after the event, Modi met a few BJP leaders in a tent put up outside the venue. The 19 leaders who met him had their names cleared by the PMO. The time spent by the PM with them was more than the duration of his presence at the scheduled event.
A former Congress minister who had joined the BJP before the assembly polls, Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi from Ferozepur, apparently told the PM to revisit Ferozepur. Modi responded by saying that he wanted to go to Hussainiwala and that he would make plans for the Ferozepur visit.
When another new entrant Kewal Singh Dhillon raised farmers’ issues, the economic crisis in the state and the utilisation of the international cargo terminal in Amritsar, Modi told him he was aware of the economic stress in the state.
BJP leader Rajinder Mohan Singh Chinna from Amritsar talked about the cargo terminal at Amritsar International Airport never getting operational.
“A functioning terminal can facilitate quick transport of vegetables and fruits,” he informed the PM, adding that agro-based industry needs to be set up in the state and not far down south.
Former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar praised the PM on “freebies.”
“There are strict protocols about the PM’s security and scheduled programmes. That is why we were not expecting this kind of interaction, where everyone was free to speak. He made us feel at home,” said Jakhar.
“He listened to all of us patiently. He guided us to work for the party. He is very humble and has knowledge of the state,’’ said another leader.
Among the others who took part in the meeting were Balbir Sidhu, Raj Kumar Verka, Arvind Khanna, Fateh Jung Bajwa, former SAD leader Didar Singh Bhatti, Union minister Som Prakash, and Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma.