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Punjab polls: In Abohar, BJP banks on Modi’s charisma, Congress on facelift, freebies
With PM’s rally in Abohar on Thursday, BJP legislator Arun Narang hopes his campaign will get the much-needed boost in a tough multi-cornered contest
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election rally in Abohar, the heartland of the Hindi-speaking belt in Punjab, on Thursday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Arun Narang hopes his campaign will get the much-needed boost in a tough multi-cornered contest.
The saffron party has a traditional following in the Bagri area since the first election of undivided Punjab in 1951. The BJP won from the semi-urban constituency on six occasions and the Congress retained the seat in nine elections.
Narang shot into limelight after he defeated Sunil Jakhar, then Punjab Congress president and three-time MLA, in a close contest in the 2017 assembly elections.
It was a humiliating defeat for Jakhar as Abohar, the hub of kinnow production, is his family bastion since 1972.
In October 2017, Jakhar was fielded in the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha byelection that he won.
But two years later, Jakhar faced another political embarrassment when he lost the Gurdaspur seat in 2019 general election.
Passing on the baton to Sandeep
After that Jakhar handed over the political baton to his nephew, Sandeep Jakhar, a 45-year-old US-educated Congressman, who has been nurturing the constituency for past two years.
Now, Jakhar is putting in all efforts to help Sandeep, a fourth-generation member in politics, to retain the political prestige of the family.
Sandeep has been leading ‘Chokho (beautiful) Abohar’ since 2020 after the town was tagged the third dirtiest city in the Swachh Survekshan-2019.
He is credited with the significant improvement the town has seen in the hygiene standards.
Social equations to play key role
Unlike the past elections, this time the constituency is seeing a four-cornered contest.
The social composition is likely to play an important role in deciding the next representative of the Hindu-dominant constituency.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has fielded a seasoned two-time legislator from Fazilka, Mohinder Kumar Rinwa, who quit the Congress to join the Akalis. Rinwa, 68, is a prominent Jat face and is trying to consolidate electoral support of his community that has a sizeable presence in the rural parts of Abohar.
Kamboj is another key community and the Aam Aadmi Party has fielded a novice, Kuldeep Kumar ‘Deep’ Kamboj, to woo the community.
Incumbent BJP MLA Narang is a prominent Arora leader and the urban belt of Abohar has a significant number of electors of the community.
The BJP is trying to muster support among the urban population, using Modi’s political charisma. It is aiming at consolidating Hindu voters and Narang is relying heavily on the BJP’s national leadership factor.
Jakhar is banking on the development works undertaken in Abohar during the five-year term of the Congress.
At election meetings in support of Sandeep, Jakhar repeats to claim works worth ₹750 crore were started in the underdeveloped semi-arid region.
At an event held at Sito Gunno village on Tuesday night, Sandeep said: “Sade naal rahonge taan aish karonge” to woo voters in a lighter vein.
He appeals for votes while blaming the BJP-led Centre for the steep rise in cooking gas and poor implementation of rural employment guarantee.
“Vote for me in recognition of the developmental works initiated to give a facelift to Abohar. The Charanjit Singh Channi government’s initiatives like waiving pending electricity bills and free bus travel for women will benefit the underprivileged,” says the soft-spoken Sandeep.
Be my strength, says Rinwa
The SAD’s Rinwa alleges that Akali workers were harassed by the Congress regime by registering false criminal cases against them.
“I wanted to contest from my family’s home turf of Fazilka but our pardhan (chief) Sukhbir Singh Badal asked to me challenge the Jakhars. Tusi mainu taqat deyo and our party will ensure that no one is implicated in false cases,” Rinwa says at election meetings in the rural belt.
The AAP’s 32-year-old candidate, Kamboj, is an electrical engineer and is appealing for votes to free Abohar from dynasts. With the party’s call for change, he is banking on the ‘Kejriwal model of governance’ in Delhi and AAP’s chief ministerial face Bhagwant Mann.
