Cong nominee for Lok Sabha by-election arrives in city to a warm welcome

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 15

The Congress nominee for the Amritsar Lok Sabha by-election, Gurjeet Singh Aujala, arrived in the city today. His supporters in large numbers, Congress leaders and workers accorded him welcome on beats of dhols at Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport.

Aujala along with senior Congress leaders of the region reached the city in a procession standing atop an open vehicle. Leaders, who accompanied him include, OP Soni, contesting from Amritsar Central Assembly segment, Sukhjinder Raj Singh Lalli Majithia, candidate for Majitha constituency, Raj Kanwal Preet Pal Singh Lucky, leader of the Opposition in the Municipal Corporation House and others.

Aujala paid obeisance at Golden Temple, Durgiana Temple, Church and also paid tributes to martyrs at the Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial.

Refusal of senior Congress leaders OP Soni, Raj Kumar Verka and former MLA Jasbir Singh Dimpa to contest the Lok Sabha seat offered a golden opportunity to a much junior leader Gurjeet Aujala to get elevated in the party fold.

Born on October 30, 1972, Aujla was appointed vice-president of the Amritsar District Youth Congress in 1997, elected councillor of the Amritsar Municipal Corporation in 2007 and made zonal chairman of the task force under the Ministry of Food Processing in 2008. Three years later, he was appointed secretary of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC). He has been District Congress Committee (Rural) president since 2013.

Being a Jat Sikh, he has offered a chance for the Congress to attract the agrarian community in its fold as it has traditionally been a vote bank of the Akalis in the region. The SAD-BJP candidate, Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina, also comes from the same community.

Aujla earned a name for himself after he worked dedicatedly for rehabilitation of farmers displaced during the dark days of Punjab militancy. He gifted a barge (a long flat-bottomed boat) to farmers of the Ajnala belt on Independence Day. The last barge was lost in floods four years ago. Aujla is considered a close aide of Capt Amarinder. He campaigned vigorously during the 2014 Lok Sabha poll.