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In Patti, AAP new factor in traditional Congress, SAD arena
After witnessing a two-cornered fight between SAD and the Congress from 1977 to 2017, the Patti constituency of Tarn Taran district is all set for a triangular contest this time with AAP’s entry
After witnessing a two-cornered fight between Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Congress from 1977 to 2017, the Patti constituency of Tarn Taran district is all set for a triangular contest this time.
Remaining the Kairon family’s bastion for more than two decades, this constituency was wrested by Congress’ firebrand leader Harminder Singh Gill by defeating SAD patron Parkash Singh Badal’s son-in-law Adesh Partap Singh Kairon in 2017. Both Gill and Kairon are their respective parties’ candidates once again for the February 2022 elections from Patti. However, the contest this time is not limited between both traditional parties, as Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s greenhorn Laljit Singh Bhullar has been giving a tough fight to them.
Though Kairon, who is the grandson of former Punjab chief minister Partap Singh Kairon, has been sparing no effort to reclaim his bastion, the path seems not an easy one to tread for him. Besides ensuring the implementation of the election manifesto of SAD, Kairon has been promising to provide better rail and road links, bringing advanced health services, employment, facilities for farmers, shopkeepers, businessmen and sportspersons, better law and order situation and e-governance. However, Gill, who, apparently, is facing anti-incumbency, has been counting on the development works he did during his last five-year tenure.
Similarly, Laljit Singh Bhullar has ostensibly been in a neck and neck fight with Gill and Kairon. Laljit had joined AAP around one-and-a-half years ago. Before this, he was serving as the president of the arhtiya association, Patti. Bhullar’s political career skyrocketed soon after he was removed from the post of the president a day after being allegedly threatened by Gill for boycotting his event in the grain market in 2019. Before the 2017 elections, Bhullar was a staunch supporter of Kairon.
Bhullar has been talking about bringing a change in the constituency. He has gained huge support from Patti city and the adjoining villages in the period of last one year. Bhullar has been cornering both Gill and Kairon on the issues of drugs and police raj.
Earlier in January, Kairon had courted controversy after he inducted one of the prime accused, Gurpal Singh of Dhotian village, of the hooch tragedy, which claimed the lives of more than 100 people in Punjab in 2020, into his party fold. Days after, the same accused joined the Congress in presence of MLA Gill.
Kairon’s campaign has been receiving a push from his son, Dilsher Partap Singh Kairon, who did his bachelor’s in economics from the Yale University of America and an MBA from Cambridge University in England, and his wife Parneet Kaur Kairon, who is the daughter of Parkash Singh Badal. Dilsher has been citing the contribution of his ancestors to the state during the campaign.
“Both Gill and Kairon have come together to defeat me. Seeing his defeat, Gill and his workers have been appealing to the voters to vote for SAD if they don’t want to vote for the Congress. Those who are supporting me are being chased by SAD and Congress leaders,” Bhullar said.
“Besides making model schools, I worked hard for the overall development of the constituency. People will vote for the work I did in the past five years. People are not fools and they know very well about the Kairon family, which did nothing during their two-decade-long tenure. AAP has no hold in the constituency,” said Gill, while addressing his election campaign.
Kairon, who is known for not speaking against his opponents, has been harping on his ‘roadmap’. He says he wants to bring long-term solutions for the eradication of unemployment in the border areas, particularly in Patti. He also wants to open the rail link from Khemkaran in India to Kasur in Pakistan for trade purposes. He is also talking about recruiting adequate teachers in the government schools and adequate staff in the government hospitals.
Kairon is also facing a challenge from former SAD MLA from Khemkaran Virsa Singh Valtoha who has some hold in the Patti constituency. Valtoha and Kairon have been at loggerheads, though not publically, for the last few years.
Earlier, Kairon wanted one of his family members to contest elections from the Khemkaran constituency on the SAD ticket. However, party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal had snubbed Kairon during a rally and announced Valtoha as the party candidate.
