CHANDIGARH – Come October 19 and the Punjab BJP will get more aggressive, demanding a greater say in matters of policy and governance. The party, expecting to do well at the hustings in neighbouring Haryana, is no longer willing to play second fiddle to the SAD.
The BJP ministers will be taking up the issue of power subsidy to the agriculture sector by cross- subsidising industry and other commercial consumers. The issue of more synchronised ministries for BJP ministers will also be taken up with the SAD. The party is likely to demand that investment promotion department be again handed over to the Industry Ministry, solid waste management be brought under the Local Bodies Ministry and the urban development authorities be brought under the Local Bodies Department.
The party has already set the tone with senior BJP leader and in charge of Punjab affairs Shanta Kumar arguing that the state government cannot favour one section of the population at the cost of other sections (referring to cross-subsidy on industry in order to give power subsidy to agriculturalists). A BJP minister told The Tribune that they would be raising the power subsidy issue “more aggressively” with the high-powered committee on resource mobilisation.
