Jalandhar byelection: AAP banks on poll doles; Opposition targets it over law & order, drugs

Tribune News Service

Aparna Banerji

Jalandhar, May 9

While AAP received a massive mandate in the 2022 Assembly poll, it was also a vote of rage against the traditional dispensations. As the Jalandhar reserved constituency goes to the polls tomorrow, the anger on “successive governments not listening to us” hasn’t dissipated in the region.

As AAP pegs hopes on free power, mohalla clinics and welfare schemes, the outcome of the bypoll will tell if its populist schemes and declarations have been a hit among the populace. Even the dismissal of controversial cop Raj Jit Singh and the recent arrest of Sandeep Nangal Ambiyan case kingpin Surjan Singh Chatha were viewed as action taken with an eye on the poll.

However, several high-profile murders, a spate of criminal incidents and drug menace in rural areas have raised concerns. The Opposition has been targeting AAP on the issues of law and order, limited girdawaris and the unaddressed problem of post-matric scholarship scheme etc.

Dalits constitute 32 per cent of the state’s population. In Jalandhar, SCs comprise 39 per cent of the population. After Mazhbi Sikhs (26.33 per cent), Ravidasias and Ramdasias (20.76 per cent) form the largest Dalit group in the state. That’s why the Ravidasia centres remain the most frequented by leaders of various political parties.

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