Gurdaspur Diary: Jury is out on Lok Sabha poll verdict

A vote is, in fact, the most powerful and potent non-violent tool we have in a democracy. Hence, it is imperative that we must use it for our betterment and for the betterment of society in which we live. We have to leave the comfort of our houses if we want to make a change. On the other hand, if we choose to remain silent, we are doomed. It is here that the quote of actor Leonardo DiCaprio comes into the picture: “All of us may have been created equal. But we will never actually be equal until we all vote.” With elections at hand, all eyes were on Congress candidate Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa as he commenced his campaign with an impressive roadshow, starting from Gurdaspur city and culminating in his hometown of Dera Baba Nanak. Having contested five elections, successfully winning four of them, he certainly is the most experienced of all the candidates. Being a late starter means he has to play ‘catch-up’ with his rivals which he is doing to the best of his ability. One of his followers, Amandeep Jayantipuria, a young Batala-based Congressman, hogged the limelight recently by arriving in a cavalcade of 150 odd vehicles to be a part of Randhawa’s roadshow. In Majha politics, the popularity of a leader is gauged from the number of vehicles he brings to the venue of a rally or gathering. It is here that Jayantipuria has scored in the 2022 assembly polls and is doing even better now. AAP’s Sherry Kalsi, who is also the sitting Batala MLA, and Dinesh Singh Babbu of the BJP, started holding meetings about three weeks ago and have already toured each of the nine assembly seats of this Lok Sabha constituency once. About three weeks ago, SAD candidate Daljit Singh Cheema too commenced his campaign. He and his think-tank have planned his events in such a way that by the time the voting day approaches, he will have toured all the nine assembly segments at least three times each. Every morning, he and his advisors dissect what is happening on the political front and based on this, they draw up their day’s plans. Local factors are also taken into consideration. Sherry Kalsi is relying on a strong youth brigade. In the 2024 polls, he won by a massive margin of 30,000 votes. Everybody in the city knows that a prominent Congressman, who is also an ex-Cabinet minister, had openly asked his followers to vote for Kalsi. The Congressman did this to ensure the defeat of his bete-noire Ashwani Sekhri, who was contesting the elections from Batala on a Congress ticket. The ground realities have changed. Sekhri is nowhere to be seen which means the Congressman now has no motivation whatsoever to help Kalsi this time. BJP’s Dinesh Babbu is adding something new to his crusade every day. Gurdaspur will be witnessing a four-cornered contest for the first time. In such a scenario, the winning margins are bound to be on the lower side. This means it could be anybody’s game.

Mahajan rises to the occasion

Batala ex-Municipal Committee president Naresh Mahajan was a BJP man till the party stopped giving him his due. When he realised this, he left the BJP and joined the SAD. SAD candidate Daljit Singh Cheema is a man whom you can not impress easily. You have to do something genuine, something big if you have to be in his good books.

Mahajan impressed the Akali leader after he organised a couple of gatherings in his favour in Batala. He also engineered the defections of some senior leaders from the BJP into the Akali fold. Batala is a known BJP hub but observers say that in the forthcoming elections, SAD may poll a substantial share of votes. On his part, Mahajan made an interesting observation, “If you want to help somebody, you will find a way. If you do not, you will find an excuse.” That is as true as the gospel. (Ravi Dhaliwal)