 "Jasvir Singh Garhi, BSP Punjab unit chief")
The BSP, an ally of the SAD in Punjab, on Sunday declared its state unit chief Jasvir Singh Garhi as the candidate from Phagwara (reserved) assembly seat for the 2022 state polls.
The announcement was made in a rally here by Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) national coordinator Akash Anand, who is also the nephew of party supremo Mayawati.
The SAD and the BSP had in June formed alliance for the 2022 Punjab Assembly election.
According to the seat-sharing arrangement between the parties, the Mayawati-led BSP will fight 20 of the 117 assembly seats, while the rest will be contested by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, several Akali MLAs and leaders, and BSP's senior leadership, including party's national vice president Anand Kumar, were present on the occasion.
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Addressing the SAD-BSP rally, Badal said a toofan (storm) had begun blowing against the Congress government in Punjab.
He also said that the SAD-BSP alliance has unnerved the Congress, BJP and AAP, adding that the next government will be of the SAD-BSP combine.
Badal talked about his party's 13-point programme wherein it made poll promises, including free power up to 400 units per month for all households, slashing diesel price by Rs 10 a litre for agriculture sector and reserving 75 per cent for Punjabi youths in private sector.
Claiming that the SAD-BSP alliance will last for 25-40 years or more, he said the SAD snapped ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) because it stabbed Punjabis and farmers in their back.
He also cautioned voters against frauds of Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal and also attacked Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.
Meanwhile, all leaders present at the rally flayed the use of force' by the Haryana police against farmers in Karnal on Saturday.
They also delayed their arrival at the rally venue, respecting the two-hour blockade called by Punjab farmers to protest the lathicharge against Haryana farmers.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
