Villagers forced to drink filtered sewage water: BJP Asansol candidate SS Ahluwalia

"The biggest issue here is potable water. PM Modi gave a call for 'har ghar nal se jal' and the people of UP benefited from this scheme but it was not implemented here in West Bengal. People in villages are forced to drink filtered sewage water. The state government did not do anything to provide clean water to the people," Ahluwalia said speaking to ANI on Tuesday.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Asansol Lok Sabha, Surendrajeet Singh Ahluwalia said that paramount concern in his constituency is the availability of clean drinking water as people in villages are forced to drink filtered sewage water. "The biggest issue here is potable water. PM Modi gave a call for 'har ghar nal se jal' and the people of UP benefited from this scheme but it was not implemented here in West Bengal. People in villages are forced to drink filtered sewage water. The state government did not do anything to provide clean water to the people," Ahluwalia said speaking to ANI on Tuesday.

The BJP leader said that the money allotted for the PM Awas Yojana was taken by one family from the Trinamool Congress and those who are poor did not receive it. "Money allotted for the PM Awas Yojana was taken by members of one family in Trinamool and they built a large palace. PM Modi had promised to give concrete houses to every poor. But not one received it. After enquiry, it was found out that those who have scooters, motorcycles and proper houses have received its benefit," Ahluwalia said.

Former Union Minister Ahluwalia filed his nomination as the BJP candidate for West Bengal's Asansol Lok Sabha constituency last week. Ahluwalia's name was among the nine in the tenth Lok Sabha candidates list announced by the BJP.

Earlier, the party had fielded Pawan Singh from Asansol, but he subsequently withdrew his candidature without specifying any reason and is set to contest the polls as an independent candidate from Bihar's Karakat. Ahluwalia won the 2019 election with a margin of 2,439 votes, securing 5,98,376 votes, defeating Mamtaz Sanghamita of the TMC, who got 5,95,937 votes.

Ahluwalia served as Minister of State for Urban Affairs and Employment (Department of Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation) and Parliamentary Affairs in the P V Narasimha Rao cabinet from September 15, 1995, to May 16, 1996. He was also deputy opposition leader in the Rajya Sabha from June 2010 to May 2012. From 1986 to 2012, he was a Rajya Sabha MP representing Bihar and Jharkhand. In 1999, he joined the BJP, and in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, he won from the Darjeeling constituency with the active support of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.

Asansol will go to the polls on May 13. The counting of votes will take place on June 4. (ANI)

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