Three towns spurn political parties, elect Independents

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 18

Three towns, which abandoned major political parties, including the Congress, SAD-BJP and the AAP, in the local body elections held yesterday, elected Independents on all seats.

Independents won all the 15 seats in Balachaur (Nawanshahr district), 13 in Moonak (Sangrur) and 13 in Bhogpur (Jalandhar). Independents won 12 out of 13 seats in Cheema (Sangrur). Local issues transcended political affiliations at these places.

Gurdwara politics in the Cheema Nagar Panchayat this time led to political parties avoiding to come in direct confrontation with each other during polls. The SAD did not pitch any candidate in any of the wards. Certain Congress candidates, in knowledge of the local command, supported Independent candidates.

Baru Sahib Gurdwara (Himachal Pradesh) is backing an academy of the Kaligadhar Trust in the village, which had a confrontation with followers of the local Gurdwara Janamasthan. Catering to personal leanings, the candidates chose to avoid taking any political line in the polls, an elderly villager said.

The Moonak Nagar Panchayat traditionally chooses to avoid any political colours in their local elections. Choices here are made after results, a local journalist said. Contestants of the Saini community, winning five seats, are said to be an important group at the moment. Looking for support from Lehra MLA Parminder Dhindsa of the SAD, the group is moving towards staking claim of having majority in the House, it has been reliably learnt. Another group, affiliated with senior Congress leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, too, is making rounds of the winning candidates to conjure a winning combination.

In the Balachaur Municipal Council, political parties chose to drop their parties’ names and formulate new combinations. A senior Congress man said the SAD-BJP-BSP candidates got together and chose to contest independently on a common symbol of tractor. Congress-backed candidates contested on a symbol of gas cylinder. Two candidates, who won the elections, were learnt to have already announced their intention to join the Congress, the leader added.

In the Bhogpur Municipal Council, personal relations stood above political leanings in the elections. At least four former SAD leaders shifted base to the Congress camp and were said to have lost the polls. Rajkumar Rajja, an influential leader without any mentionable political leanings, was an important person in the election scenario, a local leader said.

Local issues matter

• Independents won all the 15 seats in Balachaur Municipal Council (Nawanshahr), 13 in Moonak Nagar Panchayat (Sangrur) and 13 in Bhogpur Municipal Council (Jalandhar). Besides, they won 12 out of 13 seats in Cheema (Sangrur). Local issues transcended political affiliations at all these places
• Catering to personal leanings, most of the Independent candidates chose to avoid taking any political line in the polls