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Milking goat, partying to praying, Punjab’s politicians put up brave face
Former Punjab CM Amarinder celebrates his birthday three days in advance, sings “Baat niklegi to phir door talak jayegi”
Punjab’s politicians are putting up a brave front before counting day on Thursday with chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi showing off his goat milking skills, while his predecessor Capt Amarinder Singh regales friends with a ghazal at his birthday party and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal paying obeisance at Golden Temple with wife Harsimrat in tow.
Also read: Sukhbir, Harsimrat visit Golden temple day ahead of Punjab verdict
Though exit polls on Monday showed the Aam Aadmi Party winning a majority in Punjab, Channi remained unfazed and said: “The boxes (sealed electronic voting machines) will say what is going to happen. Wait for the 10th of March.” And while waiting for it, the Congress leader’s son, Rhythmjit Singh, shared a video of him milking a goat at Ballo village in his Bhadaur constituency.
The video is being widely circulated with some users even commenting that he was not made chief minister to milk goats for what it’s worth. Channi, who attempted to refurbish his son of the soil image, is contesting the elections from Chamkaur Sahib besides Bhadaur.
Birthday boy sings from the heart
Captain Amarinder Singh threw a party at his Siswan farmhouse on Tuesday, where he celebrated his birthday three days in advance in view of the election results on Thursday. A video of Capt Amarinder regaling his close friends and family with Jagjit Singh’s ghazal,“Baat nikalegi to phir door talak jayegi,” was shared by his social media team.
In the one-and-a-half-minute video, the former chief minister, attired in his trademark white kurta churidar with a pink turban, sang, “Log zaalim hai har ik baat ka taana denge. Baaton baaton mein mera jikrr bhi le aayenge. Unki baaton ka jara sa bhi asar mat lena. Warna chehare ke taasur se samajh jaayenge, chaahe kuchh bhi ho sawaalaat na karana unse. Mere baare mein koyi baat na karna unse, baat niklegi to phir door talak jayegi.”
People close to Capt Amarinder said that he preponed the celebrations keeping in mind the possibility of a busy schedule after the results are declared. Capt Amarinder’s Punjab Lok Congress contested the elections in alliance with the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) led by Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa.
Though it’s not clear which Congress leaders attended the birthday party, Capt Amarinder’s chief spokesperson Pritpal Singh Baliawal tweeted a cryptic post, “Who were they who attended the party at Siswan? Any guess Congress and AAP? Be ready for the Shock! March 11 day of….”
BJP leader Shekhawat calls on Capt
On Tuesday, the Union Jal Shakti minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in-charge for Punjab Gajendra Singh Shekhawat met Capt Amarinder at his farmhouse. It was the second meeting of the two in four days. Besides, Capt Amarinder had met Union home minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Monday.
According to senior BJP leaders, Shekhawat had specially come to Chandigarh from the national capital early on Tuesday and had left Chandigarh without any other meeting. This set off speculation within political circles that the BJP, despite being shown as not performing well in the exit polls, has started political activity ahead of the counting on Thursday.
Sukhbir seeks divine intervention
Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal and his wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal paid obeisance at Golden Temple in Amritsar on Wednesday morning, seeking divine intervention for success in the elections. It is a crucial election for Sukhbir, who spearheaded the SAD-BSP campaign, even as he contested from Jalalabad in the February 20 elections. Harsimrat represents Bathinda in the Lok Sabha and had quit the Narendra Modi government after the SAD pulled out of the NDA over the contentious farm laws that were later withdrawn.
