BATHINDA: Seven first-time women contestants in the fray from the south Malwa belt are making all-out efforts to woo the electorate with grit and determination.
From running hashtags to short films on social media platforms, these novice contestants are working overtime with their family members and close friends to make their electoral presence felt in the multi-cornered assembly polls.
The seven districts of south Malwa have an equal number of first-time women contestants from 27 constituencies. Fielded by four political outfits, these maiden contestants are highly qualified. Five of these candidates have no political background.
The Congress has the highest number of such women candidates, Malvika Sood Sachar (Moga), Rajinder Kaur (Balluana) and Ranvir Kaur Mian (Budhlada), followed by two Dr Amandeep Kaur Arora (Moga) and Dr Baljit Kaur (Malout) by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Vandana Sangwal is the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) candidate from Balluana while Sanyukt Samaj Morcha (SSM), a party floated by the farmer unions, has fielded Anuroop Kaur Sandhu, who is contesting as an independent from Muktsar.
Both first-timers of the AAP are medical professionals while three greenhorns from different groups have a background of teaching.
On two seats, Moga and Balluana, the first-timer women are in a direct contest.
{{/usCountry}}On two seats, Moga and Balluana, the first-timer women are in a direct contest.
{{/usCountry}}Congress nominees from Moga Malvika and Amandeep are being projected as philanthropist and social activists, respectively. Malvika’s campaigning has a dash of glamour as her brother Sonu Sood, a film actor, is engaged in her canvassing in the constituency and social media.
Projected as “Moge di dhee” to highlight her social initiatives, Malvika’s social media teams run hashtags on her verified Facebook and Instagram pages, popular platforms among the youth.
Her competitor Amandeep is a bachelor of medicine and surgery from Ukraine. Amandeep’s social media platforms appeal for a vote for “Moge di doctor dhee” to protect the “academic and healthcare” sectors of Punjab. Her husband is also an AAP volunteer and both are managing the canvassing.
BJP candidate from Balluana in Fazilka district Vandana Sangwal relies on her party for campaigning. A postgraduate in sociology, she is called “padi likhi gareeb kisan di dhee” on digital platforms. In the race for representation of the Bagri-speaking belt, a sizeable portion of Sangwal’s campaigning on social media is in Hindi. She also features in a short film Sangwal exhibiting her humble and non-political family to consolidate electoral support.
Congress candidate from Balluana Rajinder Kaur is harping on her husband and father to get electoral support. “My husband Surjit Singh is a panchayat secretary and he has a good network of panchayats and villagers of the constituency. My father was a ‘raagi’ and people also recognise me with twin family relations,” says Kaur, who has recently quit the job of Hindi lectureship in a government school to join the politics.
SSM candidate Anuroop Kaur Sandhu, an assistant professor in Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College affiliated to Delhi University, is being assisted by the volunteers for active activities on the ground and on social media.
Ranvir Kaur Mia, a doctorate in English and management graduate is also banking on her family to woo voters. “My husband Sarabjit Singh is a sarpanch whereas his sister is a Mansa zila parishad member. None from my family had any political affiliation but my in-laws’ experience in politics is helping me,” says the 31-year-old leader.
A second-generation politician, Baljit Kaur of the AAP is an ophthalmologist and she is spotted in Malout constituency examining eye patients during canvassing. “She is a known face and her social commitment is also seen during electioneering as she attends elderly persons,” says an elector from her constituency.