Four Congress leaders stay divided in Jagraon

Jaswant Shetra

Jagraon, September 13 

The Congress party stays divided in Jagraon and these divisions are widening further with the passage of time.

There are at least four factions of the Congress party, which are equally active in Jagraon constituency and there is a ‘bitter rivalry’ among these factions to stamp their authority in the area. 

The first faction is led by the former minister, Malkiat Singh Dakha, who contested last assembly elections from Jagraon but lost to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Saravjit Kaur Manuke. Most of the party workers and local leaders of the party are with Malkiat Singh Dakha and the faction led by Dakha enjoys good support in the area.

But Malkiat Singh Dakha has been facing a tough challenge from the group led by the senior party leader, Geja Ram. During the last assembly elections, the party high command first declared Geja Ram as the party candidate from Jagraon but cancelled his candidature and allotted the party ticket to Malkiat Singh Dakha. 

But Geja Ram has been equally active in the constituency since then. There has been a lot of bitterness between these two factions and the leaders belonging to both these factions leave no chance to humiliate one another in public. 

During the past, Geja Ram and Malkiat Singh Dakha have openly criticised each other many times. 

Malkiat Singh Dakha has also been facing a challenge from faction led by Baghapurana legislator Darshan Singh Brar. Before shifting his base to Baghapurana, Darshan Singh Brar was an MLA from Jagraon and he still enjoys good support base in Jagraon. 

Darshan Brar’s son Kamaljit Singh Brar has been projecting himself as a party candidate for parliament elections from Ludhiana. 

Kamaljit Brar has been quite active in Jagraon area and he has openly declared his intention to contest next parliament elections from Ludhiana Lok Sabha constituency if party ticket is allotted to him. Kamaljit Brar is also considered close to Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu. 

The fourth faction is led by the former Jagraon MLA, Gurdeep Singh Bhaini’s son Major Singh Bhaini. He also enjoys support in Jagraon. The faction led by Bhani has also been active in Jagraon. 

Interestingly, uniting the party workers and leaders in Jagraon constituency would be a huge challenge for the party leadership ahead of the next parliament elections scheduled to be held in 2019.