'Backdoor entry' into BSP from SAD becomes an issue

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 18

Even as Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Friday said at Partappura that the Bahujan Samaj Party was being controlled completely by the Akali Dal, which had even fielded 15 out of 20 candidates from its kitty and many BSP workers are well aware of this.

BSP workers have confirmed that even if it was not 15, there could be 10-12 candidates of the BSP who are originally from SAD, the BJP or the AAP. They have said that SAD chief Sukhbir Badal has signed a deal with the BSP as he was ensuring tickets to his own men through the backdoor entry.

Channi specifically spoke about retired PPS officer Harmohan Singh Sandhu’s entry into the Bahujan Samaj Party and announcement of his candidature from Chamkaur Sahib against him. It is a known fact that Sandhu, who was last posted as the Jalandhar Rural SSP, had resigned from the SAD after reports that the Chamkaur Sahib seat had been given to the BSP in the seat-sharing pact. But months later, he returned to the alliance as the BSP candidate last week. He joined the party in the presence of state president Jasvir Garhi and state in-charge Randhir S Beniwal. Sandhu’s mother Satwant Kaur Sandhu has been five-time MLA and has remained an Akali minister and his father Ajaib Singh was elected twice as the legislator from here.

Another BSP joinee last week and candidate from Jalandhar North Kuldeep Singh Lubana too has been an Akali leader. His wife, Baljinder Kaur, is the sitting Akali councillor from the Municipal Corporation Jalandhar. Lakhwinder Singh Lucky, BSP’s Urmar Tanda candidate, too has been with the SAD, which had also got him appointed in the RTI Commission at the fag-end of its previous tenure. The BSP’s Hoshiarpur candidate Virinder Parhar, who has been with the SAD.

A native of Lutera Khurd village in Adampur, he had been supporting Akali leader Pawan Tinu for a long time. Kapurthala candidate Davinder S Dhapai too has been with the SAD before joining the BSP as its candidate.

The BSP has also picked at least two candidates who have remained associated with the BJP till recently. Dasuya BSP candidate Sushil Sharma Pinki has been with the BJP just like Kamaljit Chawla from Dinanagar.

BSP workers have said that Amritsar Central candidate Dalbir Kaur, Bassi Pathana candidate Shiv Kumar Kalyan and Sham Churasi candidate Mohinder Singh Sandhar too are all parachute candidates in the BSP from BJP, SAD and AAP, respectively. As Sukhbir had recently announced that one of the Deputy CMs would be from the BSP, this has made everyone ask if his Deputy CM choice would be from among the original BSP leaders like those from Phagwara, Kartarpur or Nawanshahr or some parachute leaders who seem to be more like Sukhbir’s pick.