Vinod Khanna the MP, and the political clamour in Gurdaspur

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, April 27

The Gurdaspur parliamentary seat is staring at a by-election following the death of four-time MP and film actor Vinod Khanna.

Khanna started his political career in 1998 from Gurdaspur when he was first elected as MP on a BJP ticket. He retained the seat in 1999 and 2004 before losing it to Partap Singh Bajwa in 2009.

Read more:

• Veteran actor Vinod Khanna dies at 70
• Modi, Rajnath, Sonia, film industry condole Vinod Khanna’s death

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He triumphed in the 2014 polls by more than 1.38 lakh votes. People will remember him for constructing two strategically vital bridges on the Beas and Ujh rivers providing easy connectivity from this border area to other parts.

As the news of his death reached the constituency, ticket contenders started readying themselves for the polls. Sources say a by-election is imminent as there are still two years remaining for the general election.

Rumours pertaining “to which candidate will contest from which party” have started doing the rounds. Prospective candidates from the two mainline political outfits—the BJP and the Congress--were discussing their chances of getting the party ticket, a development which stunned his fans.

Ever since the picture, where Khanna looks a shadow of his former self, had gone viral a few weeks ago, some senior BJP leaders had started making the rounds to the New Delhi party office.

Khanna was a worried man in the run-up to the 2014 elections as his candidature was not being recommended by some senior BJP leaders despite the fact that he had remained a three-time MP. His main rival—Mumbai-based industrialist Swaran Salaria--was being backed by a powerful lobby, which included Swami Ramdev, and was set to get the nomination till LK Advani stood his ground and backed Khanna to the hilt. His ticket was among the last to be announced.

Khanna’s wife, Kavita, is close to the Advanis. From 1998 till 2017, barring five years from 2009 to 2014, it was Kavita who saw the affairs of the constituency as her husband remained busy with his acting assignments in Mumbai.

In party circles, Khanna had earned the sobriquet of being Advani’s Man Friday and senior leaders would envy his relationship with the BJP strongman.

After winning the 2014 election convincingly, Khanna, who was then 67, was all set to become a minister till the party decided to deny this privilege to any MP who had reached the age of 65.

Khanna remained Minister of Culture and Tourism in the Vajpayee Cabinet in 2002 and in January 2003, he was elevated as Minister of State for External Affairs.

His lead in 2014 had surprised many as he led in all nine assembly segments by heavy margins, nipping in the bud the challenge by Partap Singh Bajwa of the Congress.

Two months into his fourth term, Khanna fell ill following which he could no longer visit his constituency as regularly as he used to do during his previous terms.

In the run-up to the last parliamentary polls he had purchased a house on Sally road in Pathankot. His office used to function from within the precincts of his double-storey residence.