People of Punjab fortunate to have Jaitley contesting from here: Parkash Singh Badal

Punjab State Chief Parkash Singh Badal praised Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley saying people were fortunate as Jaitley was contesting elections from Amritsar constituency.

Addressing a rally in Amritsar on Sunday, Singh said that BJP's win was certain and Jaitley would hold important portfolios in the next government.

"People of Punjab, especially people of Amritsar parliamentary constituency, are fortunate that Arun Jaitley is representing the constituency, and they would make him member of the parliament. Being a senior leader of the party (Bharatiya Janata Party), he would have important portfolios in the central government which would be led by Modi in the coming time," said Badal.

Later during a news conference, Jaitley endorsed the alliance between regional party, Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP, saying it was responsible for social cohesion in the state.

"The Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance is 40 years old and we have got three opportunities to run the government in the post terrorism era. And this alliance has not only given good governance but has played a major role in bringing a social cohesion in Punjab," said Jaitley.