Sidhu’s ‘Punjab Model’ pitted against ‘Majitha Model’ in Amritsar East

In response to Amritsar East MLA and state Congress chief’s “Punjab Model”, his main contender Bikram Singh Majithia is trying to woo voters by giving the example of Majitha assembly segment

Amid a high-profile poll battle in Amritsar East, Punjab Congress chief and sitting MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu is presenting his “Punjab Model” to retain the seat, while his main contender and bête noire Bikram Singh Majithia of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is trying to woo voters by giving the example of Majitha segment, represented by him for the past two decades.

Punjab Congress chief and sitting MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu is up against his bête noire and former SAD minister Bikram Singh Majithia in Punjab’s Amritsar East assembly segment. (Sameer Sehgal/HT)

Sidhu joined the campaign on February 3, a day after paying obeisance at Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir. Before that, only his wife and former Amritsar East MLA Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu had been campaigning for him.

Besides listing development works carried out by the couple in the segment and attacking Majithia on issues of drugs, sacrilege and mafia rule, Sidhu’s main emphasis is on publicising his vision for the state, which he calls the “Punjab Model”. The model details how to transform Punjab by liberating it from the clutches of all kinds of mafia. “My Punjab Model has a solution to all problems of the state,” he says.

“Sidhu is talking about his Punjab Model. If anyone in Punjab wants to know this model, they should visit the constituency represented by Sidhu, where residents are deprived of even basic amenities… Just visit our Majitha segment, its residents consider me as their family member. They are enjoying all kinds of basic facilities like roads, sewerage system, drinking water and power supply.” This is Majithia’s common refrain while addressing poll meetings in Amritsar East.

Majithia is also making Sidhu’s prolonged absence from the constituency a poll issue. “I have been available for them (Majitha residents) 24x7. The condition is contrary in Amritsar East. Doors of Sidhu’s house remained shut forever,” he says.

AAP, BJP candidates putting up fight too

Amid contest between the two heavyweights, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Jeevan Jyot Kaur is also making her presence felt. While campaigning, she is targeting both Sidhu and Majithia, accusing their parties for the poor plight of Punjab and the segment.

Retired Tamil Nadu-cadre bureaucrat Jagmohan Singh Raju, who is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate, is also highlighting lack of basic facilities in the segment to target the sitting MLA. Senior party leaders, including Rajya Sabha member Shwait Malik and state leader Rajesh Honey, are also canvassing for him.