Amritsar: Former officer IAS Jagmohan Singh Raju, who spent 35 years his service in Tamil Nadu, now is a BJP candidate from the constituency of the East Amritsar Assembly.
He would make his election debut against two heavyweight – Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President Navjot Singh Sidhu and former Minister of Manila Bikram Singh Majithia.
He believed his strength lies in his past experience and accessibility to the BJP Central Government.
Raju, former Tamil Nadu’s main secretary from Hoshiarpur District, believes his experience as bureaucrats will help make Amritsar one of the top cities in India.
TOI asked Raju about his strength, political vision, and strategies to take heavy political classes such as Sidhu and Majithia.
You are called a parachute candidate who has a zilch connection with amritsar.
What should you say? I might be new for constituencies, but BJP is an old party and Amritsar is a BJP fortress.
Today, Amritsar is looking for a clean, talented and efficient representative that can work for the city and must be on the right side of the law, and not the person he wants by law.
People here don’t want someone to be ashamed to say is their MLA, or on guarantees or even entertainers.
Sidhu is a face known here.
He has represented the city for one and a half decades.
Majithia which is also a famous name in Punjab Polyce.
How will you compete with them? No doubt Navjot Singh Sidhu has represented the city for 15 years, including 10 years as a member of parliament.
In five years as MLA, he has been a minister for three years and also holds the allegations of the local body.
However, see Amritsar in the parameters of sustainable development goals: city figures among the poorest in this country, whether it is sanitation, health, economic or infrastructure activities.
Amritsar looks like a village.
This has happened when the city is represented by people with the influence called.
I know how to develop the city.
About Majithia, I would say it didn’t put Amritsar to be embarrassed because Amritsar was a holy city of Sikh, don’t embarrass and embarrass us by saying that someone who made a guarantee to peddle a representative from Amritsar.
What is your strength and why do people from Amritsar East choose for you? MLA Akali and this Congress cannot even complete their passports; They did not have that capacity, they did not have leverage with the Government of India and could not even get Rs 1 of Goi (Indian government).
I am BJP’s main candidate, I have brought here by them here.
Up to 2024, the central government can be accessed by me and I will be able to bring any scheme that might be here if Amritsar gave me a chance where my competitors could not get one Pisera because they did not have access to anyone.
For me, this is the development and only development and people will choose development.
What is your vision for Amritsar? Amritsar Pind Lagda Hai, Gandia Sarka (Amritsar looks like a village, the road is dirty).
We need to change the city and bring it equivalent to the top ten cities in this country.
I will not say I will make it No.
1, but in the next five-ten years, Amritsar will be in the list of five first cities in India.
And how it will be done, I know – by accessing all possible funds from the Indonesian government and also from international, multinational, World Bank and IMF institutions.
I have worked in this organization.
We know how to bring development in the city.