Longing for new Ferozepur Urban

Anirudh Gupta

Once considered a land of prosperity, the historic town of Ferozepur continues to be economically backward. Add to it lopsided development, and lack of educational and healthcare institutions.

Since Partition, when Ferozepur became a border town, nothing has changed — neither the state of affairs, nor the political rhetoric. In every election, leaders hold out hope of opening the border. The Hussainiwala-Lahore border, which was the lifeline of traders and businessmen, was closed in the aftermath of the 1971 India-Pakistan war.

Once elections are over, the promise is forgotten.

“We will teach ‘netas’ a lesson this time,” says Munsha Singh, a marginal farmer.

Earlier, Ferozepur city and Cantonment were separate constituencies. Ahead of the 2012 elections, the two segments were merged into one — Ferozepur Urban seat.

Ferozepur city has been a Congress stronghold; the party won eight times from here. In 1997, Girdhara Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) halted the winning streak of the old horse, Balmukand Sharma of the Congress. Sharma represented Ferozepur city five times in the Vidhan Sabha from 1969 to 1992.

Girdhara’s son Sukhpal Singh Nannu won in 2002 and 2007 before losing to Parminder Singh Pinki of the Congress by 21,354 votes in 2012. In spite of being in the Opposition, Pinki brought several projects to the town, including a state-of-the-art eye hospital, a PGI satellite centre and a government college. Besides, thousands of solar lights were installed and several open-air gymnasiums opened.

Nonetheless, these projects have not changed the economic profile of the people. One of the reasons is lack of industrial development.

So, will voters repose faith in the Congress again? It has re-nominated Pinki, while the BJP is yet to field its candidate. The party is taking time because of the strife in its cadre. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded Narinder Singh Sandha, who switched over from the Congress last year.

After Akali strongman Janmeja Singh Sekhon, who represented the Ferozepur Cantonment seat twice, shifted his base to Maur, the SAD is on a weak wicket in this segment. Will it prove to be BJP’s undoing?