On poll pitch, high-decibel battles set rhythm

Sarbjit Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 17

With the Congress following an AAP’s strategy of pitting heavyweights against strong candidates of rival parties, the Punjab Assembly elections are all set for an edge-of-the-seat contest.

The battle between “political gladiators” may become one of the finest points in the careers of some of them, while others may have to hang their boots in the face of defeat.

The Malwa region with 69 seats out of 117 will witness most of the thrilling contests. The interesting part is tha Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and state Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh have been challenged on their turf.

It is perhaps for the first time in the history of re-organised Punjab that a former Chief Minister (Amarinder) will be pitted against the incumbent Chief Minister (Badal). There have been big political battles in the past, but not at the scale of a Chief Minister versus a former Chief Minister to be witnessed in Lambi.

There have been a few electoral battles between the family of late Chief Minister Harcharan Singh Brar and Badal. The Akali leader has lost elections only once. That was in 1967 when Brar defeated Badal by just 57 votes from Gidderbaha.

The contest in Lambi has another ingredient to become a thriller. It is in the form of AAP’s nominee Jarnail Singh. He has resigned from the Delhi Assembly to take on Badal on his turf. Jarnail, a former journalist, had shot into limelight when he threw a shoe at then Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram.

Amarinder is also locked in another high-decibel battle on his home turf. The Akalis have put up former Army chief JJ Singh against him from Patiala Urban. The Captain versus General contest is already being talked about as the toast of the elections. Amarinder, known for acerbic and dismissive barbs against his opponents, finds himself at the receiving end of some of them from the General.

Equally interesting will be a battle in Jalalabad, where SAD president Sukhbir is pitted against AAP’s Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann and Congress’ Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu.

Mann, who belongs to a small farmer family, has emerged as a popular campaigner because of his satirical and stinging political attacks. His two opponents belong to the families of Chief Ministers. With Mann, AAP started to field its top leaders against rival parties.

Another thrilling electoral battle will be in Sangrur’s Lehra constituency, where former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal is pitted against Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa. Stakes are high for the two families that are into politics for more than four decades.

In Majha, the big battle is in Majitha. AAP, which has been targeting SAD nominee and Sukhbir’s brother-in-law Bikram Singh Majithia for “patronising” drug trade, has fielded Himmat Singh Shergill against him. As for the Congress, it has fielded Lali Shergill.

Another interesting battle will be in Sanaur, where a member of the Tohra family is pitted against a Tohra loyalist’s son. AAP has fielded Tohra’s daughter Kuldeep Kaur against SAD MP Prem Singh Chandumajra’s one Harinder Pal.

The contest in Amritsar East, where cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu is in fray, and in Bathinda City, where Manpreet Singh Badal is in contention, will also be keenly watched. But compared to other contests, the two Congress nominees are facing lighter adversaries.

KEY BATTLES

Lambi: Incumbent Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal vs former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh vs former journalist Jarnail Singh 

Patiala Urban: Captain Amarinder Singh vs General JJ Singh

Jalalabad: Sukhbir Badal vs Ravneet Singh Bittu vs AAP  MP Bhagwant Mann 

Majitha: SAD chief Sukhbir Badal’s brother-in-law Bikram Singh Majithia vs AAP’s Himmat Singh Shergill 

884 nominations have been filed in the state so far