Three women candidates in fray from Amritsar East

Neha Saini

Tribune news service

Amritsar, January 21

The Amritsar East constituency, which elected firebrand woman leader Navjot Kaur Sidhu in 2012, this time will see three low-profile women candidates contesting against heavyweights. Since traditional parties refrained from fielding any women candidates, two Independent women candidates and one from the Democratic Party of India (A) will contest against Navjot Singh Sidhu (Congress), Rakesh Honey (BJP) and Sarabjot Singh (AAP).

Amita (58), a housewife and a resident of the Hussainpura area, near the local bus stand, is the Democratic Party of India (Ambedkar) candidate for Amritsar East. Her educational qualification is limited to primary level and her only asset is Rs 20,000 in cash. However, she is confident of standing out among the high- profile competitors.

“I and my husband, who has retired now, used to talk about social issues, everyday problems that people used to face during the dinner time. We were always open to political happenings in the constituency. Hence, this time, with encouragement from my husband and family, I decided to file for the Assembly poll. We cannot just sit and talk about everything wrong with the world, we have to do something,” she said.

Her husband Gokal Chand too feels that people need a change this time, a break from traditional politicians.

“Nobody ever thought that Indira Gandhi would be defeated by Raj Narain, but it happened. So, politics is unpredictable and one has to be positive always about what we do. Amita’s entire family, including three sons, is campaigning for her. Since we don’t have money, we are sticking to personal interactions and door-to-door campaigning,” Gokal said.

Other two women candidates from Amritsar East are fighting the poll battle as Independent. Gurjit Kaur (40) has passed Class XII and is also cashing in on door-to-door campaigning since she too is a housewife. Parminder Kaur (42) with an annual income of 3,20,000, as declared in her nomination affidavit, is a bit more financially sound than her two counterparts. The candidates do agree on the fact that Amritsar East is the most neglected constituency and witness least development.