Govt rolls out publicity vans to counter oppn's outreach

BATHINDA: To counter the attacks from Aam Aadmi Party and Congress, which are actively campaigning for the 2017 Punjab elections, ruling Shiromani Akali Dal has started to reach out to people by launching a mobile publicity drive. The programme 'Ik Shaam Sarkar De Naal' (one evening with the government) aims at connecting with people through the audio visual medium, under which publicity vans will be sent to all 117 assembly constituencies of Punjab.
Earlier, the government had tried to woo voters through 'Mukh Mantri Dharmik Darshan Yojna' and ran trains to religious places.
The vans will start visiting villages from next week. Each van will be fitted with a global positioning system (GPS) and LED screens. The vans will reach the designated villages in the day and start publicising the state government's achievements around 6pm, telling people about Punjabi culture for the next two hours.
Earlier, AAP had started various public outreach programmes like 'Punjab Dialogue' and 'Punjab Bolda'. Congress has started outreach events like 'Coffee with Captain' and 'Halke Vich Captain'.