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Jalandhar by-poll: Parties gather feedback before finalising candidates
In wake of by-elections for Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency, the political outfits have started marking their presence in nine assembly segments falling under the jurisdiction of Jalandhar parliamentary constituency.
In wake of by-elections for Jalandhar lok sabha constituency, the political outfits have started marking their presence in nine assembly segments falling under the jurisdiction of Jalandhar parliamentary constituency.
Senior leaders from all the parties including Aam Aadmi Party, Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP have also started gathering feedback from its cadre and general public before finalising names of their respective candidates.
The constituency fell vacant after Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary (76) died of a heart attack while taking part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra on January 14.
However, Jalandhar by-election is going to be testing time for the political parties to test not only their cadre but their strengths and weaknesses before 2024 general elections.
“We were not expecting by-elections at this time especially in the segment in which socio-religious factor is the key. Moreover, no party wanted to face defeat before the major showdown of 2024 parliamentary polls. However, upcoming Jalandhar elections will help all political parties to identify their flaws and strengths,” said a senior political leader.
Meanwhile, kicking off its preparation, the BJP has already appointed former Congress ministers and leaders, now in the BJP fold as incharge of different assembly segments. The list includes leaders like Manpreet Singh Badal, Balbir Singh Sidhu, Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi and Arvind Khanna.“The discussions are already on for the name of candidate as the party will make final announcement at the right time,” said former cabinet minister and BJP national executive member Manoranjan Kalia
Even as Congress is yet to announce a candidate, Phillaur MLA Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary and his mother Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary have already started campaigning for the elections. Both mother-son duo could be witnessed striking empathy chords during meetings at different villages.
“My father was always focused on ensuring the all-round development of villages and strived to fulfil the demands of local residents. During the meetings, people remembered my father’s immense contributions for the last over 31 years,” said Vikramjit Singh.
Meanwhile, for ruling AAP, the challenge is much more critical especially after the party lost key Sangrur lok sabha by-election, a constituency which was represented twice by chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, last year. The party is even keen to settle down the Latifpura controversy before final announcement for the polls by breaking deadlock between affected families and district administration.
“The party is contemplating to bring a candidate with mass appeal. Even a feedback was gathered from local leadership and a brief survey was carried out last week in order to identify sentiments on the ground,” an AAP leader said.For SAD, its president Sukhbir Singh Badal and his wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal are taking charge as they are repeatedly visiting the constituency to hold meetings with party workers.
Remains Congress dominating constituency
Going by past election trends, the constituency remained Congress’ dominant seat as its candidate Santokh Singh Chaudhary remained victorious convincingly in the 2014 and 2019 election. Moreover, in the 2022 state assembly polls, Congress won five seats of nine in Jalandhar district, while AAP secured victory on remaining seats.
In 2019, Chaudhary was polled 3,85,712 votes, while SAD candidate Charanjit Singh Atwal 3,66,221 votes. The AAP candidate Justice Zora Singh (retd) was polled mere 25,467 votes, while BSP candidate Balwinder Singh got 2,04,783 votes.
