AAP candidate Labh Singh Ugoke campaigns in Bhadaur on Sunday. Photo by writer
Rajmeet Singh
Bhadaur, February 13
As the day of polling for the Assembly elections nears, clarity has given way to a sense of uncertainty among voters in this high-profile constituency.
The electorate is in a catch-22 situation over the choice between Aam Aadmi Party’s Labh Singh Ugoke (35), whom everyone relates to easily, and his formidable Congress opponent and CM face Charanjit Singh Channi.
The locals have every reason to be anxious. Since 1967, the constituency has voted seven times for the SAD, twice for the Congress, and once each for the AAP, CPI and BSP. Still, development has eluded this largely rural reserved constituency.
Locals admit after CM Channi’s entry, it is no longer a smooth sailing for the AAP candidate. “By electing a CM, the area will be assured of development. It does not matter which party we vote for. Last time we elected AAP’s Primal Singh Dhaula, but he switched over to the Congress. There is every chance the AAP candidate after winning may join the Congress. It doesn’t matter to us. We need development,” says Jaspal Singh, a former sarpanch of Channa Gulab Singh village.
A few kilometres away, Baldev Singh (82), a resident of Ugoke village, prefers to listen to his heart. “It is a matter of prestige for us. Labh had been running a mobile repair shop. His mother was a contract-based sweeper in the government school of the village and his father was a driver. He is one of us,” he says, as a gathering in the village waits to garland the AAP nominee. A huge procession follows him as he takes a round of the village. Urging for change, the AAP candidate in his campaign repeatedly cites the historic 1952 event, when after the Muzara movement, CPI candidate Baba Arjun Singh defeated Nirpal Singh, a sardar, to become the first MLA of Bhadaur in the erstwhile Patiala and East Punjab States Union Legislative Assembly.
“The revolutionary people of Bhadaur will create history again by defeating a CM. It is the history of my constituency, which defeats kings,” he says. On the other hand, Channi is banking on being the most suitable candidate as it will be the CM’s constituency and development will follow.
Besides, Dharam Singh Fauji of the Punjab Lok Congress, Satnam Singh of the SAD and Manjit Kaur, an Independent and wife of Deputy Speaker Ajiab Singh Bhatti, are also in the fray.
Gurjeet Singh, a resident of Alkara village, points out it is not just a fight between the AAP and Congress. “The constituency has a number of followers of Dera Sacha Sauda led by Gurmeet Ram Rahim. There is buzz that the dera will influence polling.”
CM will bring development
By electing a CM, the area will be assured of development. It does not matter which party we vote for. — Jaspal Singh, ex-sarpanch, Channa Gulab Singh village
Matter of prestige
It is a matter of prestige. AAP’s Labh Singh ran a shop at Ugoke and his father was a driver. He is one of us. — Baldev Singh, a resident of Ugoke village
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