West bypoll, panchayati raj elections kept political circles abuzz

Ludhiana was abuzz with political activity throughout the year, primarily because of the Ludhiana West Assembly seat that went to bypoll in June and the Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) elections in December.

The West bypoll, necessitated by the demise of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Gurpreet Gogi, had become a status symbol for all major political parties, and they went all in to emerge victorious.

There was heightened political activity in the run up to the elections, with high profile leaders such as AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, AAP Punjab affairs in-charge Manish Sisodia, and Union Home Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah holding rallies.

The AAP fielded then Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora, Congress named ex-minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, BJP bet on Jivan Gupta and Shiromani Aakli Dal (SAD) trusted Parupkar Singh Ghumman for the high-stakes election. Sanjeev Arora ultimately managed to defend the ruling party’s seat.

The already high-stakes bypoll became the talk of the town after Arora’s nomination, declared well in advance.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, his Haryana counterpart Nayab Singh Saini (BJP) and SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal were among the other key leaders who visited Ludhiana over the year.

After the elections, high profile politicians continued visiting the district to express their sympathies with the flood-affected populace.

The last couple of months saw another bout of heightened political activity for the zila parishad block samiti elections. These polls gained significance as they were being treated as a litmus test ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled in 2027.

The elections also laid bare factionalism in major political parties, with SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and rebel leader Manpreet Singh Ayali butting heads. Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring and former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu had more than their share of differences as well.

After losing to Arora in the West bypoll, Congress candidate Bharat Bhushan Ashu resigned as Punjab Congress Working President. He had said that he was taking the step while accepting moral responsibility of the loss.

Union Minister of State Banwari Lal Verma visited the flood-affected areas of Ludhiana towards the fag end of the year.

He was accompanied by Sukhwinder Singh Bindra to the flood-affected areas near the Sutlej River.

Leaders’ differences came to fore

During the zila parishad and block samiti elections, differences among the two SAD leaders — Sukhbir and Manpreet Ayali —came to the fore. Ayali fielded Independent candidates from Mullanpur Dakha and won a majority of the seats.

Malerkotla saw its share of political buzz as well, mainly because of its proximity to Dhuri, CM Mann’s constituency. The district has three AAP legislators in power and is a part of the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat, represented by AAP MP Gurmeer Singh Meer Hayer.

However, Congress MP from Fatehgarh Sahib Dr Amar Singh Boparai compensated for this lack of political power with the grand old party’s leaders from Ahmedgarh and Amargarh sub-divisions, which fall under Amargarh assembly constituency, through liberal distribution of grants under local area development fund.

death of Razia Sultana’s son

Former minister Razia Sultana and her cop-turned-politician husband Mohammad Mustafa succeeded in maintaining frontier position among Congress leaders despite controversies following the suspicious death of their son, Akil Akhtar. The Malerkotla House is still the epicentre of activities for the Congress.

Cong picked up pace

The year saw multiple Congress becoming more active, with an eye on candidature for the 2027 Assembly elections in Punjab.

Kamal Dhaliwal, Sumit Mann, former MLAs Jasvir Singh Khangura and Surjit Singh Dhiman, and Gurtej Dhindsa have been attending sports fairs, public functions and events with the intent to prove their popularity. Interestingly, all probable candidates enjoy patronage of senior functionaries of the party. Local Congress leaders, including councillors and sarpanches, are divided in their loyalties.

Shifting loyalties

The year was a witness to shifting of loyalties among SAD leaders. SAD leaders from Ludhiana, including Bikramjit Khalsa and Jaspreet Singh, were highly active in Amargah and Ahmedgarh sub-divisions through the year.

The SAD seemed to have regained some political strength during the past few months, and it reflected in the zila parishad and block samiti election results.

There was a significant strategy shift from the BJP, which involved a number of Muslim and Sikh leaders in the party in Malerkotla. Local Hindu leaders who were close to former MLA Iqbal Singh Jhoondan during the SAD-BJP alliance have started to support the BJP following its distancing from the Akali Dal. Renowned art promoter Hira Singh is being promoted as Sikh face for next assembly election from Amargarh.

Punjab Waqf Board chairperson

The appointment of local industrialist Owais Mohammad as Punjab Waqf Board Chairperson at the year’s beginning proved to be a shot in arm for the AAP leadership. Several educational and medical institutes receive regular grants from the Board, resulting in inclination of people associated with these organisations towards the party in power.

Being a Muslim-dominated region, Malerkotla provided opportunities for the CM and his colleagues to come closer to the community.