Bathinda, May 11 (IANS): The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which came to power in Punjab promising to end the drugs menace in the state, has failed badly on all fronts, said former IAS officer Parampal Kaur Sidhu, the BJP nominee from the Bathinda Lok Sabha constituency, here on Saturday.

For decades, the Congress and the Akali Dal have betrayed the faith of the people of Bathinda and Punjab, she said, adding: "Now the state's people have high expectations from the BJP.”

Campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections here, Parampal Kaur said the Narendra Modi-led Central government is implementing numerous schemes for all, including the farmers and the youth.

"In this election, the people of Punjab and Bathinda will teach a lesson to all those political parties which enjoy power on false promises. The BJP is going to form the government at the Centre for the third time," she claimed.

Due to the better policies and strategies of the Modi government, the country's name is shining all over the world today, she added.

To recall, the 2011 batch IAS officer joined the BJP on April 11 after resigning from service.

The Bathinda seat has been a stronghold of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) since 1996, save in the 1999 polls.

Sitting MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the wife of Akali Dal President Sukhbir Badal, is in the fray again, seeking her fourth continuous victory from the seat.

The Congress fielded Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu from the seat, while the Aam Aadmi Party has nominated Gurmeet Singh Khudian.

In 2019, Harsimrat Kaur defeated her nearest rival, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring of the Congress, by 21,772 votes.

The 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will go to the polls on June 1.