E-Paper
MLA report cards: Amrik Singh Dhillon and Gurkirat Singh Kotli
Hindustan Times takes a look at Punajb MLAs and their performance:
Amrik Singh Dhillon,74, Congress
Constituency: Samrala
Education: Class 10
Assets declared in last polls: Rs 16.6 cr
Electoral record
2012: Won by a margin of 8,950 votes against Kirpal Singh of SAD
2007: Lost to Jagjivan Singh of SAD by a margin of 14,289 votes
Assembly record
Question asked: 1
Call attention moved: 0
Power punch 3-time MLA, liquor baron with influence across parties
What next Likely to get ticket again as hardly any rival within party here
How he performed
Like his Congress counterparts, Amrik Singh Dhillon rues that he could not work in the past five years being in the opposition. Problems of potholed roads continue to ail Samrala with the 16-km stretch leading to Khanna in a dilapidated state for many years. It takes more than 35 minutes to cover the distance. Roads leading to Macchiwara and Bija continue to be potholed and thus accident-prone. Besides, work on the sewerage is still incomplete. Residents have also been alleging that they have been denied the benefits of food-security (‘blue’) cards and the government has been giving step-motherly treatment to all those who have supported the Congress. Samrala segment has 202 villages and a government school in the area dates back to 1857.
By the way
SAD doesn’t field strong candidate against him
Voterspeak
I travel daily from Samrala to my village Sarwarpur, and the roads remain pathetic. Our MLA hardly interacts with the people.There is an increased rate of crime too, Narinder Singh, 27, mason said.
Traffic ails us the most as lakhs of vehicles pass daily to Chandigarh from here, leading to chaos. We have been demanding a bypass on the lines of Kharar, but to no avail, Jeewan, 28, banker said
Gurkirat Singh Kotli, 43, Congress
Constituency Khanna
Education Graduate
Assets declared in last polls: Rs 2 cr
Electoral record
2012: Defeated Ranjit Singh Talwandi of SAD by a margin of 7,647 votes
2007: Didn’t contest; Bikramjit Singh won this seat for the SAD
Assembly record
Question asked: 46
Call attention moved: 0
Power punch Grandson of former CM Beant Singh
What next Likely to again get the ticket despite claims by others
How he performed
Kotli’s tenure as a legislator remained lackluster, with no major projects coming up for the constituency. Being an MLA from the opposition, Kotli says, he faced a lot of resistance in getting funds released and was “curbed”. In September 2015, he led a protest along with MGNREGS workers, stormed the tehsil complex and locked the SDM office — a high point for him, politically. But sewerage, water supply, poor sanitation, encroachments, lack of parks and civic amenities continue to ail residents. The residents have also been complaining about the poor condition of roads and the poor infrastructure at the bus stand. A national highway passing right through has divided Khanna into two parts, something to which no solution has been worked out.
By the way
Makes his own tea in the morning
Voterspeak
There has been no development here for the last 10 years. This time, our MLA was from the opposition and could not get works executed. No promise has been delivered, Sudhir Verma, 68, businessman said.
We have been demanding parks for children but nothing has been done. There has been no progress; in fact, the situation has gone from bad to worse in the last five years, Sushma Sood, 40, housewife said.
