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Cong’s heavyweight tries to make inroads in BJP’s ‘celebrity’ bastion
Holding six out of the nine assembly seats, the Congress appears to have a considerable sway in the region.
In a four-cornered contest in the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency, winning the parliamentary elections appears to be uphill task for the BJP which has no history of winning the polls here without a celebrity figure in the segment. The Congress has fielded its heavyweight leader while the Aam Aadmi Party and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidates are also giving a tough fight. The segment comprises two border districts — Gurdaspur and Pathankot.
Keeping in view the prolonged absence of sitting MP and actor Sunny Deol who disappointed his electors, the saffron party did not field any celebrity this time. The party has banked on former three-time MLA from Sujanpur Dinesh Singh Babbu.
Since 1998, seven Lok Sabha elections have been held here and the BJP won five times with celebrity faces. Bollywood actor Vinod Khanna won the elections in 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2014. After his death in 2017, the BJP fielded non-celebrity candidate Swaran Salaria but he lost to Congress’ Sunil Jakhar by 1.93 lakh votes. In 2019 polls, the saffron party again chose a film star, Sunny Deol, who toppled Jakhar by the margin of 77,009 votes.
BJP’s biggest advantage is that Dinanagar, Pathankot, Sujanpur and Bhoa are Hindu-dominated assembly segments, considered as its stronghold. Gurdaspur and Batala towns also have a sizeable Hindu population. Building Ram Temple in Ayodhya has consolidated the Hindu votes to some extent in this area. In 2019 elections, voters of this belt played a vital role in the victory of Sunny Deol.
A big rally addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi a few days ago has also benefited the party candidate who is known as mass and energetic leader of the BJP in this constituency after former Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma.
However, he is struggling to win over the support from rural assembly segments of Gurdaspur district, which is predominantly Sikh majority area. During the campaign, Babbu faced the wrath of the agitating farmers. Earlier, the BJP had an alliance with the SAD, but the scenario has changed after their alliance fell apart.
At the same time, the saffron party has got a boost as Ravikaran Singh Kahlon, who was SAD’s in-charge of Dera Baba Nanak assembly segment and son of late Akali stalwart Nirmal Singh Kahlon, recently jointed it. Kahlon has a considerable sway in Dera Baba Nanak as well as Fatehgarh Churian. He gave a close fight to the then deputy CM Randhawa in the 2022 assembly elections in Dera Baba Nanak and lost only by 466 votes.
Babbu is frequently raising the Ram Temple consecration to woo voters. In Sikh-dominated areas, he gives BJP the credit of opening of Kartarpur corridor and redresses grievances of farmers.
A factor that may worry the saffron party is the non-performance of Sunny Deol who remained absent from the constituency post his election victory.
The Congress, which succeeded in winning six seats (Gurdaspur, Qadian, Fatehgarh Churian, Dera Baba Nana and Dinanagar) out of nine despite the AAP wave in the 2022 assembly elections, appears to have sway in every section of society in this Lok Sabha constituency. The Congress and AAP got only two seats —Batala and Bhoa — while the BJP was reduced to one (Pathankot).
Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, apart from mentioning the promises made by the Congress at the national level with the voters, is touching the local concerns. While campaigning, he talks about the establishing a PGI satellite hospital in Gurdaspur, developing tourists spots in semi-hill areas of Pathankot, setting up a sports university, developing infrastructure and establishing agro-based industries.
A young face, AAP’s nominee Amansher Singh Sherry Kalsi is an MLA from Batala and he enjoys good support in this assembly segment. Punjab cabinet minister Lal Chand Kataru Chak represents the Bhoa constituency and has influence in this area, an advantage for Kalsi. Barring them, the party has no other big leader in this constituency.
To woo the voters, Kalsi lists the welfare initiatives taken by the AAP government so far and promotes the steps taken by the state government for development of tourist spots in Pathankot, besides promising to resolve local issues.
The SAD, instead of picking any local candidate, has fielded its tall leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema, former minister and MLA from Roopnagar. Sources said the party did not pit any local face in order to prevent any rift here. Though Cheema has never remained active in this segment, he cites that his roots here as his birth place (Marhi Buchian village) is in Gurdaspur district. During electioneering, he targets the Congress over Operation Bluestar in the Sikh dominated areas. He also cites the issues of law and order, “poor infrastructure, unemployment, etc”.
After Kahlon’s exit from the party, former Akali minister Sucha Singh Langah who was in the eye of the storm over a sleazy video, has become active in Dera Baba Nanak and some other parts of Gurdaspur district. He has announced his support for the SAD candidate by conducting a big rally in Kalanaur.
