GURDASPUR LS BYPOLL: CONG BETS ON JAKHAR
Thursday, 21/09/2017
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CHANDIGARH: Amid a bitter tussle over ticket for the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday announced Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar as the party’s nominee for the October 11 bypoll.
In a game of checkmate played by rival Congress camps in Gurdaspur, Jakhar’s name was first pitched by party MLAs from Gurdaspur opposed to Rajya Sabha MP and former state president, Partap Bajwa, who has fought the last two elections from the seat.
The proposal found the backing of Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh who met Sonia on Monday and named Jakhar as the party’s best bet to win the seat. Six of the seven party MLAs from the segment had openly favoured Jakhar’s candidature barring Bajwa’s younger brother, Fateh Jang, who too had later agreed to go by the party’s choice after striking a discordant note over fielding an “outsider”.
“It is the election for a parliamentary seat. People are well aware of this. It will be a referendum on what the Narendra Modi-led BJP government promised three years back to garner votes, and what people think about the regime now,” said Jakhar after his name was announced.
