Congress going strong in rural belt; AAP, BJP too in fight

Charanjit Singh Teja

Amritsar, June 1

In Amritsar (Rural) segment, Congress candidate Gurjeet Singh Aujla seems to be on strong position while AAP’s Kuldeep Dhaliwal is giving him a good fight. The Congress and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) have their strong traditional groups in each village. However, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has succeeded to establish its base in villages. The BJP has strong base in the urban areas.

During a visit to rural Assembly constituencies, it was observed that the SAD was losing its ground. Even in Majitha constituency the party may not perform like previous elections. Although the BJP candidate has emerged a strong candidate in Amritsar (Urban) constituencies, his presence is not visible in the rural belt. Voters are not vocal about their choice, but they criticise political parties for failing to come up to their expectations. Opposition against the AAP government over non-fulfilment of poll promises is quite visible. Woman voters claim that they were unhappy with the AAP as it didn’t implement scheme to give Rs 1,000 per month to them.

“There are no employment opportunities for Dalit women in villages. The AAP government promised to give Rs 1,000 to women per month, but failed to fulfil it. So, there is a resentment among women,” said a woman voter at Jahangir village. In Ajnala Assembly segment, AAP workers seemed more enthusiastic than other constituencies. Workers of the SAD were not enthusiastic as they felt that poll results may not be in their party’s favour. In some villages, workers of SAD (Amritsar) had also set up stalls.