Ludhiana (Punjab) [India], August 25 (ANI): Senior advocate and BJP leader H S Phoolka on Tuesday addressed party workers and media after a key organisational meeting chaired by BJP National General Secretary (Organisation) BL Santhosh.
Phoolka expressed confidence over the BJP's prospects in Punjab and launched a sharp attack on the Congress over the legal proceedings against late former MP Sajjan Kumar.
Speaking on the party's strategic review and organisational preparations, Phoolka said, "Today, BL Santhosh held a meeting with all party workers, reviewed all ground reports, and discussed our roles for the upcoming elections. It was a very productive meeting with a lot of enthusiasm. The BJP will form the government in Punjab in the next assembly elections."
Santosh on Monday said that Punjab would contest all 117 Assembly seats and would form its government in the state ahead of the forthcoming 2027 state assembly election amid speculation over an alliance with Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
Addressing the first zonal meeting held in Patiala on the first day of his two-day organisational visit to Punjab, he added that Punjab is fully ready for change, and the BJP is fully prepared to make this change a reality.
Transitioning to the long legal battle concerning the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the senior advocate, who spent decades representing the victims' families, targeted the Congress party's political stance toward Sajjan Kumar.
"Until Sajjan Kumar was sent to jail, the Congress consistently favoured him. He faced no accountability or punishment for years. He was made MP three times; his brother was also made an MP... When the Modi government came to power, the full force of the government mechanism was applied to pursue justice. I fought the case after resigning as the LoP. Then he was sentenced. They tried very hard to get bail or come out on parole, but we opposed it every single time, and he ultimately passed away in prison," he added.
Former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, who died in prison on August 20. The three-time parliamentarian was involved in one of the most prolonged and consequential legal battles in India: the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases that followed the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
For over three decades, Kumar had faced multiple criminal cases relating to the violence, with outcomes that swung between acquittals and convictions across different courts.
In the Delhi Raj Nagar area case, relating to the killing of five members of a family and the torching of a gurudwara, the Delhi High Court on December 17, 2018, overturned a trial court's earlier acquittal and convicted Kumar, sentencing him to life imprisonment. Kumar surrendered and was in jail since December 2018. (ANI)
"BJP will form next Govt in Punjab; Congress shielded Sajjan Kumar until Modi Govt pursued justice": HS Phoolka
