Enough of promises, Faridkot wants action

Balwant Garg

Tall promises, unrealistic manifestos, empty rhetoric — a sense of déjà vu prevails among the voters of this former princely state. Having lost faith in the politicians, the residents of some localities are giving the vote seekers a piece of their mind.

“Votaan vele bapu kehende, mudke sadi saar na lehende (Politicians pamper us during election time, but forget us later),” reads a flex board put up at the entrance to Bhan Singh Colony.

“Releasing the manifesto is just a formality. Copies of such documents are not even available in most of the main election offices of the political parties,” says Ashu Mittal, an advocate.

The residents lament that politicians eagerly lay the foundation stones of projects — without bothering about the modalities. No wonder most of these projects fail to take off, they say.

“Potable water has been one of our major demands for the past several years. However, the situation has gone from bad to worse,” says Manjit Singh, a resident of Kameana. As the groundwater has high fluoride content, the residents have no option but to bank on the Sirhind Feeder, the canal whose water is contaminated with heavy metals and industrial effluents.

In a damage-control exercise, the state government has installed two RO (reverse osmosis) plants at some public places and started the cancer OPD at Guru Gobind Singh Medical College Hospital, Faridkot. However, such token gestures have failed to impress the voters.

The SAD has replaced sitting MLA and liquor baron, Deep Malhotra, with a new face, Parambans Singh alias Bunty Romana. The latter is the chairman of the Punjab State Youth Development Board and chief spokesman of the Youth Akali Dal.

The Congress has fielded Kushaldeep Singh alias Kiki Dhillon, son of former Akali MLA couple Jagdish Kaur Dhillon and Jasmat Singh Dhillon. Belonging to a Taksali Akali family, Kushaldeep had won the Faridkot seat on the SAD ticket in 2002. However, he switched over to the Congress in December 2011 following differences with SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal.

AAP's Gurdit Sekhon, a former cop, was a national-level basketball player. He was a key member of the action committee which spearheaded a prolonged agitation for justice to a girl who was allegedly kidnapped and raped by a politically influential gangster in 2012.