Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday said the country needed Narendra Modi as the prime minister for five more years at least to further strengthen and consolidate its position at global and domestic level.

Addressing a gathering during a campaign for the high-stakes bypoll to the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat scheduled for May 10, the BJP leader said this bypoll will set tone for the 2024 General Elections in Punjab which are very crucial for the country’s future.

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He called upon people to vote for the party candidate Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal to strengthen the hands of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Amarinder said under Modi’s leadership, India was being looked upon as a great nation as it had emerged strong, powerful and independent in its decision making. He said the economy had stabilised during the BJP government as compared to other countries like the United States where banks were crashing and the economy was in dire straits.The former CM said country had emerged stronger and had stood up to its enemies like China and Pakistan.

The BJP leader lashed out at the Aam Aadmi Party government in the state, saying it had completely failed the people’s expectations despite getting a landslide victory and a sweeping mandate.

He alleged that the AAP government was being dictated from Delhi and that was the reason its priorities were misplaced and quite contrary to the expectations of the people of Punjab.

He said, there was a massive exodus of youth from Punjab as they were migrating to foreign countries because there were no jobs in the state. He reminded the AAP government of its promise of providing jobs to people in which it had miserably failed.

Making a strong case for Atwal, he said, he had a vast experience of serving the people. Besides, he pointed out, the Atwal family had served the people of Punjab for two generations with a clean and spotless record.

Speaking on the occasion, Atwal appealed to the people to vote for him to ensure the development and welfare of the state. He said the BJP was the future of Punjab as all others had failed.