Congress banking on sympathy wave in Nagrota, BJP on development

Lalit Mohan

Congress candidate RS Bali is banking on a sympathy wave in the Nagrota Assembly constituency following the death of his father GS Bali, a prominent Congress leader of Kangra district.

The Congress has fielded RS Bali, AICC secretary, from the constituency that his father had represented for four times consecutively from 1998 to 2012. However, in the 2017 Assembly elections, GS Bali lost to his own protégé Arun Kumar, who contested on BJP candidate.

Arun Kumar got the title of a giant killer for defeating GS Bali. However, he remained in the shadow of GS Bali, who had brought many projects to Nagrota, including Tanda medical college, Rajiv Gandhi government engineering college and many other educational institutions. Bali passed away last year.

The BJP has again fielded Arun Kumar against Congress candidate RS Bali. Arun Kumar is projecting himself as a common man against the rich and powerful family of Balis in Nagrota. On the other hand, RS Bali is seeking votes in the name of development works carried out by his father in Nagrota Bagwan and is promising to carry forward these works.

In the Kangra constituency, the BJP is banking on the personal vote bank of Pawan Kajal, who had joined the party recently. Kajal, a former irrigation and public health contractor, had fought the 2012 elections as an Independent candidate and won the seat. Under the influence of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, he had joined the Congress. He contested the 2017 elections on Congress ticket and again won the seat. Kajal commands considerable influence over a section of voters in the Gaggal area of the constituency.

However, this time, he is facing opposition in the BJP. Many Kangra BJP leaders, including former MLA Sanjay Chaudhary, have openly opposed Kajal’s entry into the party and ticket allotment to him. Zila Parishad member Kulbhash Chaudhary had filed nomination as an Independent candidate.

The Congress has fielded former MLA Surinder Kaku from Kangra. He is banking on the support of government employees.