Pargat Singh, Brar bury the hatchet
Deepkamal Kaur
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, January 19
Even as three days after when Congress leader Pargat Singh was announced as the Jalandhar Cantonment candidate, former MLA Jagbir Brar was all out against him and openly questioned him for getting FIRs lodged against residents of the area, the duo have entered a patch up for the sake of their prospects and those of the party in the forthcoming Assembly elections.
Following reports of MLA Pargat Singh getting Congress ticket from Jalandhar Cantonment, former MLA Jagbir Brar, who too has been vying for the seat, had badly hit out against him while holding a show of strength at Pholariwal village in the constituency. In a fully charged form, Brar had lashed out against Pargat for getting villagers implicated in false cases. He had presented those people who had been booked for petty crimes like stealing two sacks of urea. He had even gone ahead passing a sarcastic remark against the former hockey Olympian, saying, “The number of people who have FIRs against them is so high that if they all polled for him, he would definitely win.” Brar had concluded his 15-minute public address, venting out his ire against rival from his own party while sympathising with the villagers, “Tuhada badla mein le ke rahunga. MLA rabb nhi hunde. Lok MLA nu gharon bahar kad dende. Je koi minister ban ke vi aa gya, tuhada hisab tuhanu karke deyanga. (I will surely avenge the atrocities meted out to you. MLAs are not like God. People throw MLAs out of their houses. Even if someone else is here as a minister, I will still get your issues settled for sure)”.
Brar was Akali MLA from the Jalandhar Cantonment seat in 2007 and Pargat in 2012. Both had quit from the SAD before their terms ended and are now in the Congress. Both were vying for the same seat, which the party decided in favour of Pargat just two days ahead of the last day of filing papers. The delay had kept the twosome on tenterhooks till the end.
However, as Brar got placated by Capt Sandeep Sandhu, member of the disciplinary committee of the party, and was even called to Patiala. He conceded to start afresh from Nakodar, where he is now getting the support of former MLA Amarjit Samra and party spokesperson Dr Navjot Dahiya. Samra also yesterday intervened in the matter between Pargat and Brar and placatedd both of them. The duo has now agreed to help each another from the two seats. Pargat’s father-in-law Darbara Singh has been four-time MLA from Nakodar and he has his contacts there.
