Will Gidderbaha voters strike Warring pose?
Archit Watts
Represented by first-time MLA and Indian Youth Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Gidderbaha has witnessed the Badal family’s domination for about 40 years. In 2012, Warring had defeated the then PPP candidate and four-time MLA Manpreet Singh Badal, estranged nephew of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
Before Manpreet, this constituency was nurtured by Badal himself. He won five times in a row from 1969 to 1985. He then left the seat for Manpreet, who went on to win in 1995 (bypoll), 1997, 2002 and 2007.
In 2012, the SAD had fielded Sant Singh Brar, who had left the Congress just before the polls. However, a few months later, he was replaced by SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal’s close aide Hardeep Singh ‘Dimpy Dhillon’, co-owner of New Deep Transport, as the halqa incharge.
The SAD has declared 49-year-old Dimpy as its nominee, while the Congress has again reposed faith in 39-year-old Raja Warring. AAP has named Jagdeep Singh Sandhu (35) of Fattanwala village in Muktsar Assembly constituency. He is a former SAD activist and a close aide of SAD’s Muktsar constituency incharge Kanwarjit Singh ‘Rozy Barkandi’. Jagdeep was earlier in the race for the ticket from the Muktsar seat, but he missed out.
A section of the local youngsters says, “Both (Raja and Jagdeep) have a similar sartorial style. They are young and good looking. They miss no chance to lodge a protest for the sake of their supporters. A recent protest by Jagdeep forced the police to file a case against Warring.”
They add, “Dimpy’s brother, cousin and son were earlier named in some controversies. His buses have remained in the news for fatal road accidents. Some senior SAD leaders are not supporting him.”
Ask the locals about the development works and they say a majority of these were executed during Manpreet’s tenure as the Finance Minister. “The works need proper maintenance. During the town’s centenary celebrations in December 2009, the local administration spent a hefty sum to make the historic clock tower functional in the grain market. However, it’s no longer operative,” they say.
