BJP picks Hans in Delhi, residents of native village not enthused

SAFFIPUR (JALANDHAR): Though the political circles have been abuzz with reports of Padma Shri singer Hans Raj Hans being fielded from the Northwest Delhi constituency, there is no excitement about the same in his native Saffipur village, near here.

Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service
Saffipur (Jalandhar), Apr 24

Though the political circles have been abuzz with reports of Padma Shri singer Hans Raj Hans being fielded from the Northwest Delhi constituency, there is no excitement about the same in his native Saffipur village, near here.

Hans’ brother Amrik Hans has been the sarpanch of the village twice. His elder brother Harbans Lal still resides in the village. But residents say that the family has not maintained any connection with them. Hence, any news related to Hans no longer excites them.

“Hans and his brothers have done nothing for the village, not even as sarpanch. So, we were not much enthused when he became a candidate from the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat 10 years ago. We did not go around with him much even then. Even now, we see absolutely no reason to feel excited about his moving to Delhi for making a new political career,” said Paramjit, his relative.

Of the nearly 200 families in the village, the majority, including Hans, are Valmikis. Since Hans’ father Arjan Singh was engaged in small jobs, village elders shared that the family that saw bad days was now rolling in wealth due to the roaring success he achieved in his singing career. Hans now owns a huge fort-like farmhouse in the village but it remains locked most of the times.

“We only now see SUVs zipping in once or twice a month. His cars just move past the village roads but we are not even able to see anyone or even wave to Hans or his family members. He organised the marriage function of his younger son in the same farmhouse (villagers call it Hans’ park) but we were not invited,” said Johny, who has his house just across the road.

Hardeep, a neighbourer of Hans, said: “We heard from our parents that Hans did his Class V in the primary school here. He moved to Gakhal village for matriculation. Later, he joined DAV College in Jalandhar. It was the participation of Hans in college events that brought him recognition. He was trained in Sufi singing under famous singer Puran Shah Koti and then there was no looking back.”

The family now has at least three houses in Jalandhar but his sons and their families live in Mumbai.

Hans recently presented a video album of his song ‘Dil Modi-Modi ho gya’ to the party for being played in campaigns. He had a short stint as the Vice-Chairman of the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis since he had to resign to file his papers yesterday.