Barwala (Hisar)/Dabwali (Sirsa), July 26

To gain foothold in Haryana politics, Punjab Chief Minister and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann today started the party's poll campaign in the state from Barwala in Hisar and Dabwali in Sirsa. He raked up the issue of paper leak in recruitment examinations in the state. He claimed 43,000 jobs were given in Punjab without any paper leak while every paper was leaked in Haryana.

Addressing the 'Parivartan Jan Samvad Rally' in Barwala and Dabwali, he also targeted the Congress, saying when there is a wave of farmers, the Congressmen say they are farmers and when there is a movement of traders, they say they are traders. "The Congress has no stand," he said.

Mann said there are hardworking people in Haryana and Punjab. "We got everything, but did not get leaders with good intentions. They only protected their own interests but no one took care of the general public. This system has to be changed," he said, adding that the Punjab Government had created 43,000 jobs in just two and a half years. He said the AAP government did not take a bribe of even a single rupee from anyone. "But the youth in Haryana are heart-broken due to paper leaks," he said.

Appreciating the works of the AAP government in Punjab, he said, "When we promised free electricity in Punjab, the Opposition said it is not possible and asked where the money will come from? But we knew the money would come from their own pockets. So, as soon as the government was formed, we made 600 units of electricity free for two months in July. Today, 90 per cent of the houses have zero electricity bill," he said, adding they would replicate the same in Haryana after coming to power. He said Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal revamped government schools in Delhi in such a way that even poor children are qualifying NEET and JEE examinations and becoming doctors and engineers. "This model was replicated in Punjab also and the same will be introduced in Haryana," he said.

He said it has been 10 years since the BJP came to power in Haryana. "It has neither given jobs nor built roads. The AAP has so far closed 17 toll plazas in Punjab and people are saving Rs 60 lakh every day. These toll plazas were being run in collaboration with Congress, BJP and Akali Dal," he alleged adding that if intentions are good then everything is possible.

Trying to strike a chord with people of Haryana, he said Kejriwal, who was born in an ordinary family of Siwani Mandi in Bhiwani district, was serving in the slums of Delhi even after becoming an IRS officer. "He emerged from a small village in Haryana, shook the politics of the entire country. Big leaders from all over the world listen to him," he said.

Mann said women should also come forward in politics now. "If the stove cannot run without them, the country cannot run either."