Key seat for SAD, Congress out to save face
Thursday, 09/04/2015
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FACE-OFF Experienced Akali candidate Gobind Longowal pitted against Barnala’s advocate grandson, a first-timer who is the Congress-backed Sanjha Morcha nominee
DHURI (SANGRUR): This is the allimportant assembly seat that the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) needs to win to achieve the magic figure of 59 in the 117-member Punjab assembly — and thus end its ‘dependence’ on the Bharatiya Janata Party. However, even though chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal have been camping here themselves, and funds for development have been disbursed liberally, the voters’ ‘silence’ is making the Akali leadership uncomfortable.
The SAD’s poll record in recent years is not at all encouraging. The party managed a lead from only four polling stations out of 166 in Dhuri in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, with Aam Aadmi Party’s Bhagwant Mann comfortably winning the Sangrur parliamentary seat (which includes Dhuri). In the 2012 assembly polls, party candidate Gobind Singh Longowal had lost to Arvind Khanna (Congress) by more than 12,000 votes. It was Khanna’s resignation that has necessitated the April 11 bypoll.
Even the opposition Congress is not on a firm footing, despite the seat traditionally being a party stronghold. Disunity in the Congress camp has been evident during campaigning for partybacked Sanjha Morcha nominee Simar Pratap Singh Barnala, with leaders split between the camps led by Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Partap Singh Bajwa and his bête noire, former CM Capt Amarinder Singh. What’s worse, the party’s strength in the House has gone down from 46 to 42 in the past three years.
AAP FACTOR
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Dhuri electorate had rejected Akali stalwart Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa as well as Congress’ Vijay Inder Singla, while voting in large numbers for comedian-turned-politician Bhagwant Mann.
Though AAP is not contesting the bypoll, the party’s vote share holds the key. The SAD is trying to woo AAP voters, while opposition parties are asking the electorate to again ‘punish’ the SAD.
No wonder, Sukhbir has deputed his best poll managers, who are going all out to win over voters. The Akalis have given charge of five villages to each major leader, including cabinet minister Bikram Singh Majithia, who is assisted by other leaders.CM Badal has himself been promising more development in the area if party candidate Gobind Singh Longowal is elected.
From the Congress, Bajwa is holding the fort, while Amarinder also addressed a series of wellattended rallies. However, the Captain’s role has been largely restricted to a ‘show of strength’.
The Barnala family holds some clout in the constituency as Simar’s father Gaganjit Singh Barnala remained an MLA from here from 2002-07.
Though there are 12 candidates in all, it’s a Longowal-vs-Barnala fight. SAD (Amritsar) leader and SGPC member Surjit Singh Kalabula is expected to eat into the SAD’s Panthic votes, while Community Party of India (CPI) candidate Sukhdev Ram Sharma can do some damage to the Congress’ prospects. Both the SAD (Amritsar) and the CPI are trying to penetrate the AAP vote bank. Vikram Kumar Dhanaula, who hurled a shoe at the CM last year, is in the fray as an Independent.
