Gurdaspur Diary: Simplicity, thy name of the game

Of all the four candidates in fray, it can be said without an iota of doubt that SAD candidate Dr Daljit Singh Cheema is the simplest of them all. And the most intellectual too! Despite donning the robes of a politician, he is rational and logical to the core. He is the engine that drives the SAD. Ask party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and he will corroborate it. A pal of the senior Badal, he has spent many years in the civil secretariat working as an advisor to him when he was the Chief Minister. Anything that goes wrong within the party is referred to him. More often than not, instead of mending things with a quick-fix, Cheema offers concrete solutions. “I remain a simple man who has more questions than answers. Please join me as I seek to turn the tide here in Gurdaspur,” he says. He knows it is a tough fight, battling it out with a national party like the Congress. AAP and the BJP, too, are there but he says his battle is with the Congress. For him, simplicity boils down to two steps: Identify the essential and eliminate the rest. He is a man who will never say yes when his heart says no. Like when some party loyalists prodded him on to open channels of conversation with an ex-colleague who finds himself out in political wilderness because his voyeuristic ways have been caught on tape. It is another matter that his ex-colleague, who controls a large vote bank, himself came calling. As other candidates’ zig-zag the constituency with horn-honking escort cars leading their cavalcades, Cheema can be found waving down a scooter for a lift. His go-to man is Manjit Singh Dala who incidentally is also his host here in Gurdaspur. If Cheema is old school, his son, Monty, is UK educated. Unlike his father, he never enjoys the spotlight. He is reticent and prefers to remain away from the razzmatazz of modern day politics and its accompanying shenanigans. He is his Dad’s backroom boy. And an effective one at that! Cheema is in the midst of the battle of his life. On June 4, the chaff will be separated from the grain, the winner from the loser. For him, whichever side the coin falls, life will go on. Because he knows that sometimes by losing a battle you find a new way to win the war. After all, there is a difference between winning, losing and not trying at all

Cops raids fail to unnerve farmers

Farmers are always a step ahead of their nemesis, the police. The other day, barely hours before PM Narendra Modi was to address a gathering of BJP workers in Dinanagar, the farmers made it clear that they would show black flags to the PM. 400 meters of black cloth was purchased from a shop in the main market. The cloth was meant for the flags. The CID of the police department got wind of this development following which plans were made to nab the farmers from their houses. However, these peasants have reliable contacts in the police department. They were informed by their ‘sources’ about the impending police action. Once the cops reached their houses, they had already made good their escape. The cops are now back to the drawing boards making plans on how to catch them!

(Ravi Dhaliwal)

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