Holi hues across pollscape as winners celebrate

Nikhila Pant Dhawan

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, March 11

Winning candidates and their supporters painted the city in the colours of victory. They played Holi with gulaal, took out victory processions in their constituencies and danced to the beats of drums.

The counting of votes of six constituencies of Bathinda district was conducted at three centres. While counting of 90-Rampura and 92-Bathinda urban was held at the Institute of Hotel Management (IHM); counting of 91-Bhucho Mandi (SC) and 93-Bathinda (Rural) (SC) was conducted at PESCO; and that of 94-Talwandi Sabo and 95-Maur was held on the campus of the Central University of Punjab.

There were 13-15 rounds of counting of votes while the trends of the victory began clearing after the sixth round. After seeing the trends at the counting centres, supporters of the winning candidates started assembling outside the gates of the IHM.

Beating drums, playing music, waving flags of their respective parties and throwing colours in the air, the supporters eagerly waited for their winning candidates to come out of the counting centres and celebrate the victory with them. Anticipating that the supporters may try to sneak inside the counting centres, a large number of police personnel were deployed at the gate to control the crowd. Despite security, the supporters managed to take packets of colours inside the counting centres.

Among the winning candidates, Gurpreet Singh Kangar, who won the Rampura Phul seat on the Congress ticket, was the first candidate to come out of the counting centre.

Already smeared with colours, Kangar walked out into a fresh shower of colours. Thanking the voters for trusting him over the sitting MLA, Sikander Singh Maluka, Kangar said, “The voters saw the tall claims of development and false promises made by the SAD-BJP alliance. The voters have given their mandate for a progressive government in the state.” As he walked through the main gate of the premises, supporters raised slogans and congratulated him on his victory.

Supporters of AAP’s Jagdev Singh Kamalu played Holi with him on the premises of the counting centres.

Sounding subdued, he promised to keep all the promises that the party had made to the people of the state. When asked if the AAP would have done better had many of its leaders not quit the party, Kamalu said, “The image of a party must be clean. Leaders come and go but the party stays. It is the image of the party and whether it keeps the promises or not, matters the most.”

Registering a win by the highest margin in the district, AAP’s Baljinder Kaur sounded upbeat as she walked out of the counting centre. “Despite being rivals, the SAD and Congress were hand in glove for the elections. The two parties fought the elections together aiming to defeat AAP as they feared the surge in the popularity of the party. It was for the first time in the state when AAP contested the Assembly elections and considering the number of seats that the party has won is indicative of the trust that has been shown by the voters in the thought process of the party,” she said.

“The victory of AAP candidates is the victory of party’s national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and his policies. It is the victory of the volunteers who aligned themselves with the party to bring about a change in the way of governance,” she added.

Manpreet Singh Badal was the last one to walk out of the counting centre after completing all formalities and paperwork. He thanked the voters and promised that the Congress would now work towards resolving the issues of the residents of the state.

“The voters of Bathinda have taught me a lesson in fidelity. They had voted for me in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and have voted for me again in the 2017 elections. Taqdeer ne nai karwat badly hai (The destiny has changed). I am also thankful to the district administration and the police for ensuring clean and fair elections,” he said, accompanied by Rajan Garg, KK Aggarwal, Pawan Mani, Anil Bhola, Bhupinder Singh Bhullar and others.

Talking about his priorities for the Bathinda (Urban) constituency, he said, “There is a long list of works which need to be done in the constituency. I will begin with the relocation of the Solid Waste Treatment Plant, which has become a nuisance for the people of the nearby residential areas. Enhancement fee, which has been levied on some colonies by the Bathinda Improvement Trust, will also be cancelled.”

“Looking for solution to the problems of sewage disposal and flooding during the monsoons is also a priority. Generating employment by setting up industries and giving the trade a boost in the area will also be done soon,” he added.

Manpreet Badal, along with his supporters, made his way through the city and paid obeisance at Haji Ratan gurdwara and dargaah before paying obeisance at Hanuman Temple at the Post office market.