Amidst nomination filing, BSP’s Hoshiarpur candidate joins AAP

Tribune News Service

Aparna Banerji

Jalandhar, May 8

Nearly two months after Hoshiarpur Congress leader Rajkumar Chabbewal quit the Congress to join the AAP and was announced as party’s Hoshiarpur candidate for the LS polls, the Bahujan Samaj Party Hoshiarpur candidate Rakesh Soman today followed suit, joining the AAP today in presence of CM Bhagwant Mann. The shift has happened even as the nomination process had already begun in the state.

With this, the Congress and BSP’s first choices as candidates from Hoshiarpur are hence in the AAP’s kitty. A relatively new face, former AAP leader Yamini Gomar is the Congress candidate from Hoshiarpur while the BJP has fielded Anita Som Parkash, the wife of Union Cabinet Minister Som Parkash from here.

While Soman said he was influenced by the AAP’s policies, the BSP said the failure of Soman to obtain a voter card, without which he could not have contested election, is the real reason for his pre-poll shift. The BSP didn’t rule out a conspiracy as leaders said Soman was aware of his voter card status for 15 days but didn’t inform the party until the last minute.

Issuing a formal release, BSP central coordinator and Punjab affairs in-charge Randhir Singh Beniwal termed the shift of Soman into the AAP as unfortunate. Beniwal said “Soman’s ticket had to be withheld due to technical reasons as he did not have an authentic voter card. An enquiry revealed his vote was cut due to the connivance of the AAP government. BSP state president Jasvir Garhi, MLA Nachattar Pal and Rakesh Soman also appealed to the state Chief Election Commissioner at Chandigarh on Tuesday to issue Soman a new voter card. But the appeal was dismissed. It also surfaced yesterday that an appeal had already been made for a new voter card by Soman on May 5. The BSP will soon announce a strong candidate from the seat to defeat the AAP.”

Speaking to The Tribune, Beniwal said, “All 13 BSP candidates had been called to Chandigarh at 11 am yesterday to be handed authority letters by the party. The letters were issued to all 12 of them barring Soman. Everyone brought an NOC and certified copy of their entry in electoral rolls. Only Soman didn’t have it. Nor did he tell us, even though he knew it for 15 days. When we quizzed him, he left. We did not give him the authority letter. There appears to have been a prior conspiracy by him.”

After joining AAP, Rakesh Soman said, “I Rakesh Soman, was the Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha BSP candidate for the coming elections. I am leaving that party and joining the Aam Aadmi Party which is just like my family. I’ve joined AAP because I’m deeply influenced by the works of CM Bhagwant Mann, be it for the poor children, Dalit children, or the unemployed.”

First to shift after nomination began

Rakesh Soman is the first candidate to switch parties after beginning of nomination process. Before this, the precedent of candidate jumping ship to another party after being announced candidate of one, was set by BJP candidate Sushil Rinku who was formerly with AAP. While Soman said he was influenced by the AAP’s policies, the BSP said the failure of Soman to obtain a voter card, without which he could not have contested election, is the real reason for his pre-poll shift. The BSP didn’t rule out a conspiracy as leaders said Soman was aware of his voter card status for 15 days but didn’t inform the party until the last minute.

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