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Dera Baba Nanak: Deputy CM Randhawa neck and neck with SAD nominee yet again
Amid the fight between deputy CM Randhawa and SAD nominee, AAP candidate Gurdeep Singh Randhawa is running a tight campaign and garnering good response
Despite holding a key post in the state government, Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa is seen struggling to retain his Dera Baba Nanak seat, as the Congress leader is facing a tough challenge from former assembly speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon’s son Ravikaran Singh Kahlon, who has been fielded by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), while Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Gurdeep Singh Randhawa is also gaining ground in this rural segment dominated by Jat Sikhs.
Falling on the India-Pakistan border, the historic town made headlines in recent past with the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor that connects it to Guru Nanak’s final resting place. Kalanaur, another small town, is also part of the assembly segment that was carved out during delimitation in 2012 and has since been represented by Randhawa.
Though known as an aggressive leader, Randhawa remained neck and neck with SAD’s Sucha Singh Langah in the previous two state elections. While he won by 2,940 votes in 2012, the margin was reduced to 1,194 in 2017. Once again, he is facing a tough challenge from the SAD candidate, despite earning some brownie points for taking a tough stance against the then chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh by raising the issues of sacrilege and drug smuggling.
Being situated along the border, residents of the segment face development and employment issues. Villages close to the zero line are still backward. Girls living here have to cover long distances to pursue higher studies.
Though Randhawa lists development works, welfare tasks and infrastructure development done during his decade-long tenure, anti-incumbency factor is quite visible. Many people consider him hot-headed, and SAD candidate Ravikaran Singh Kahlon never forgets to accuse him of using “abusive language” and “misbehaviour” with those who come to meet him.
However, the Congress leader, who is the party’s prominent Panthic face, has been able to garner support of many Sikh personalities from the segment to target the SAD.
SAD nominee Kahlon not new to segment
Though Kahlon was named as the SAD candidate at the eleventh hour, he is not new to the segment. For nearly five years, he had been working in the adjoining Fatehgarh Churian segment, which also comprised Dera Baba Nanak before the 2012 delimitation and was won by his father in 1997 and 2007.
In a short span, Kahlon has managed to revive his links with the rank and file of the party and voters.
However, Randhawa accuses Kahlon Senior of having done nothing for Dera Baba Nanak. “Voters of this segment know very well about Kahlon family. Kahlon Senior represented people of this segment twice and remained a minister in the Badal cabinet, but nothing for this constituency. Tell me about even a single big project that was executed by him here. How can the voters elect his son?” says Randhawa, whose wife and son are also campaigning for him.
On the other hand, Kahlon says: “Voters of the segment are in the mood to teach Randhawa a lesson for being humiliated and harassed.”
Meanwhile, Sucha Singh Langah’s son Sukhjinder Singh, who was earlier seeking the SAD ticket, has finally backed Kahlon. Langah was excommunicated by the Akal Takht due to a sleazy video row, but the family holds considerable sway in the segment. Though their backing is crucial for Kahlon, some insiders feel it could also backfire by giving Randhawa the ammunition to target the party for taking support from a person excommunicated by the Takht.
Amid the fight between these two, AAP candidate Gurdeep Singh Randhawa, who is a low-profile leader, is running a tight campaign, which is garnering good response and could convert into a considerable vote share.
