Gurdaspur diary: Warm homecoming for Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa at Dharowali

Every traveller has a home of his own and as such he learns to appreciate it the more from his wandering. For Deputy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who of late has become a political traveller of sorts — both figuratively and literally — it was a sweet homecoming as he reached Dharowali, his native village in Dera Baba Nanak assembly seat, early this week. What awaited him was indeed a gala reception with serpentine queues being witnessed in front of his residence. Kamaljeet Singh Tony, his long-time loyalist, made sure the ubiquitous dholi remained present. Randhawa, over the years, has successfully ridden the crests and troughs of political life to become a more mature man, and a politician, than he was ever before. The brashness and brazenness one normally used to associate with him earlier has been replaced with tranquillity and calm. He has proved beyond reasonable doubt that these qualities indeed come with a certain responsibility and accountability. He may not be having the serenity of a Buddhist monk but nevertheless has reached very near to achieving it. During the pre-2012 days, when he was not an MLA, he used to be the “perennial angry not-so-young man of the area.” He would blow a fuse at the drop of a hat. His run-ins with his arch rival and SAD leader Sucha Singh Langah are well known to be illustrated time and again. In the run-up to the 2012 elections, he had a verbal altercation with Langah, which threatened to snowball into a major controversy before saner sense prevailed. It is another matter that Langah has been wiped off the political map after featuring in a voyeuristic video, which went viral ahead of the 2017 Parliamentary bypoll. Politically speaking, from love all, the video ensured it was 1-0 for Randhawa. Once, during a meeting of the Gurdaspur District Vigilance and Monitoring Committee, chaired by then Lok Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa, Randhawa gave a taste of his medicine to officers. Thereafter, officials were more often than not reluctant to attend meetings where Randhawa would be present. One thing is for sure that he followed the path of righteousness and uprightness during these meetings. That erring officials would come into the line of fire was a foregone conclusion. A former Deputy Commissioner admits that Sukhjinder always maintained the high moral ground just like his father and former Cabinet minister Santokh Singh Randhawa used to do. Now, Randhawa faces no opposition at all in his assembly seat neither from within the Congress, nor from outside. His stature and stock have risen exponentially. So much so, the Akalis and AAP are considering fielding a celebrity against him in the 2021 polls. Renowned Batala surgeon Dr Satnam Singh Nijjar has been following Sukhjinder’s career graph closely. “Like father, like son. The son has imbibed almost all qualities of his father. If you do not have a righteous objective, eventually you will suffer. When you do the right thing for the right reason, the right results await you. And that is what the Randhawa family has stood for,” opined Dr Nijjar who was equally well known to the senior Randhawa as he is to his son. As for the grand homecoming, hundreds of supporters made their way to Dharowali. Once the Deputy CM’s 30-car cavalcade entered Dera Baba Nanak, it was forced to halt at least a dozen times by his well wishers. Sukhjinder has issued explicit instructions to his drivers to stop his vehicle if anybody, be it a man, woman or child, signals it to stop. As truth be told, homecoming never gets old! The only thing being lamented by his constituents is that ever since his status has been elevated to that of a Deputy CM, his security has become as tight as they have for the Picasso in London’s national gallery.

Batala resident wants political system changed

Batala resident Prof Jasmer Singh Rana carries strong views on the present set-up of political parties and also on the character of modern-day politicians. He opines that each and every political outfit is out to win cheap popularity based on religion, caste and regionalism. “Earlier, people used to join the political stream to serve. Now they join to ensure somebody is there to serve them day in and day out. This trend is also visible in national-level parties. Candidates are elected these days on the basis of their caste, not performance. Actually, calibre and performance should be the only qualities on which candidates should be selected. Political parties should be groups of people who come together because of a shared mutual vision for their community. These groups should meet regularly, create platforms that represent their vision and values and then send members to be elected to assemblies and parliament,” he said. Words of wisdom, surely Mr Rana! But the problem is nobody is going to heed to your advice in this materialistic, dog eats dog world.

Veterinary inspectors felicitate Ministers

The Punjab Veterinary Inspectors Association recently felicitated Deputy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Cabinet minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa. Press Secretary Kishen Chand Mahajan said the association hoped both these ministers will address their long pending problems including the implementation of the pay commission report. “We have apprised them of our difficulties and have been assured that all our demands will be met soon,” said Mahajan.

(Contributed by Ravi Dhaliwal)