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Pathankot: BJP fighting stiff Cong, AAP challenge to reclaim bastion
A triangular contest is on the cards as Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma is pitted against sitting Congress MLA Amit Vij and Aam Aadmi Party’s Vibhuti Sharma
One of the 10 assembly segments of Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency, Pathankot is currently with Congress’ Amit Vij who had wrested it from the saffron party in 2017 after 10 years. Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat is predominantly a BJP stronghold and is currently being represented by actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol who had won it in 2019 by 29,381 votes.
To reclaim its Pathankot bastion, the BJP has fielded its Punjab chief Ashwani Sharma. Perhaps, nowhere else in the state, the saffron party is as visible as it is in Pathankot, so much so that when entire Punjab was seething with anti-BJP sentiments over three central farm laws last year, there was negligible impact here.
Though Sharma is confident of winning the seat, the journey is not as easy as it looks. Sharma had won this seat in 2012, but lost in 2017 to Congress’s Amit Vij by around 11,000 votes.
Vij is not the only challenge for Sharma this year. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has pitched Congress turncoat and former chairman of Pathankot Improvement Trust Vibhuti Sharma. Political analysts say the fight is triangular this year. Vibhuti, who joined the AAP in October last year, has a considerable hold in the Pathankot city. He had been a councillor on three occasions and has a good understanding of the demography.
In 2017, AAP’s Raj Kumar bagged only 6,000 votes. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which is in alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), has fielded advocate Jyoti Pal from this seat. The BSP has little hold in the constituency. In the last assembly polls, BSP candidate Ankur Khajuria was polled only 470 votes. However, SAD has pitched its senior leaders in the constituency in support of the BSP candidate, which could impact the BJP prospects.
The absence of Gurdaspur member of Parliament Sunny Deol is another issue that goes against the party. “There is anger among the people against Deol who rarely visits the area. His absence may prove costly to the party not only in Pathankot but also in other constituencies of the Gurdaspur parliamentary segment,” said a party leader, who didn’t wish to be named.
The candidates of Congress, BJP and AAP are relying on their past work to seek votes. Besides making the people aware of the central welfare schemes, Sharma has been speaking about his performance as an MLA from 2012 to 2017, citing the district status to Pathankot; construction of the district court complex, government college, and stadium as his achievements.
Vij, too, is listing the pro-people initiatives undertaken during his tenure as an MLA. AAP’s Vibhuti is counting on his work as a councillor. “In 2017, the fight was between the Congress and the BJP, but this time, there is a pro-AAP sentiment as well. The fight is triangular and very close,” said 45-year-old Vishal Arora of Pathankot.
Vibhuti said, “The Congress and the BJP have failed to provide even the basic amenities to the Pathankot residents. The city has faulty sewerage and a railway crossing that passes through the middle of the city doesn’t have an overbridge. AAP will change all this if it is voted to power.”
“People are heading for a change and want a government that can overhaul the system. Our party will win all three seats in Pathankot district. During the last five years, the opposition has done nothing. The issues of unemployment, corruption, drugs and sacrilege are still unresolved,” said Ashwani Sharma.
Vij said the Congress party will return not only in Pathankot but across Punjab due to its people-friendly initiatives in the last five years.
