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Rebels may play spoilsport in Jalandhar Cantonment

JALANDHAR: This is one constituency where nominees of all parties had to struggle to get their candidature announced. This for obvious reasons initially led to rise of rebels, most of whom have now been pacified.

Rebels may play spoilsport in Jalandhar Cantonment


Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, January 23

This is one constituency where nominees of all parties had to struggle to get their candidature announced. This for obvious reasons initially led to rise of rebels, most of whom have now been pacified.

A half rural and half urban constituency comprising the most posh localities of Model Town and Urban Estate areas, it has always supported the Congress, except for the last two terms.

Former CM Beant Singh was MLA from this seat in 1992, while his son Tej Parkash and his daughter Gurkanwal Kaur (who joined BJP and returned to Congress within a few days) got elected here in subsequent polls.

Only twice has the electorate here voted for Akali Dal candidates — Jagbir Brar in 2007 and Pargat Singh (52) in 2012. Both resigned as MLA midway and are now with the Congress.

With controversies following the other two main candidates — SAD’s former MLA Sarabjeet Makkar (57) and AAP’s HS Walia — both Pargat and Brar considered it to be a smooth sail for them. While Brar had a backing of PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh, the hockey Olympian bagged the ticket with Navjot Singh Sidhu pushing the case for him. The jostle for the seat led to ill-will between the two, but they patched up with senior party leaders intervening and Brar moving to Nakodar.

Even Makkar had to face dissidence. Former SGPC member Paramjit Singh Raipur and district SAD president Gurcharan Singh Channi had even called him a “land grabber”. But the Akali leadership managed to placate Raipur with the chairmanship of the Jalandhar Improvement Trust. Channi took some time and finally gave in, coming by Makkar’s side at the time of filing of papers.

Car dealer and AAP candidate Walia (37) had the maximum number of detractors. A rookie party, it had over a dozen claimants from the seat. Prominent among them was golden girl and former women hockey team skipper Rajbir Kaur, who left the party to support Makkar. Journalist Major Singh, who left his job with a vernacular paper to join the party as joint secretary, is no longer associated with AAP. Other claimant media incharge Atam Parkash Singh continue to be with AAP but is not supporting the candidate.

The BSP has placed its bet on Amrik Bagri (44), who is expected to eat into the Dalit vote bank of the Congress.

Makkar is banking on commitments, including waving octroi and no bar on installing mobile towers in the area, made by Badals last month.

Pargat is continuing to garner support over opposing setting up of a solid waste management plant, over which he claims to have left SAD and even taken on the CM during Sangat Darshan last month. Walia has been laying stress on getting rehabilitation centres set up for of drug addicts in some villages here.

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