Changed political equations in Gidderbaha put Congress in a fix

The changed political equations following the entry of former Akali leader from Gidderbaha Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon into AAP has put the Punjab Congress leadership in a quandary.

Further, the announcement by Faridkot MP Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa that Mandeep Singh Sidhu, brother of Waris Punjab De founder Deep Singh Sidhu, would contest the Gidderbaha Assembly bypoll as an Independent candidate is set to make the contest more interesting.

The Gidderbaha seat has been the family borough of PPC chief and Ludhiana MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, who has been three-time MLA from there. Initial reports suggested that the party was considering to field Gidderbaha incharge Narinder Kaoni as PPCC chief’s wife Amrita Warring was reportedly not keen on contesting the bypoll. In the changed scenario, however, her name is back in reckoning as pressure is mounting on the PPCC chief to field a strong candidate for the bypoll.

Warring said, “The party will field a strong candidate. We will soon finalise the candidates for all four Assembly seats.” Not only Gidderbaha, the byelections to Barnala, Gurdaspur and Chabbewal are also due.

Detractors in the party, who had been questioning PPCC chief over the party’s performance in the Malwa belt, especially in the Bathinda parliamentary constituency recently, are closely watching the selection of candidate for the Gidderbaha seat. The Congress stood third in the Gidderbaha Assembly segment in the recently held parliamentary elections.

At a recently held meeting of sitting and former MLAs called by the PPCC chief, certain speakers pointed out that there were many CM faces in the party and there was a need to bring clarity on the issue.