Discerning Sangrur voter won’t be taken for a ride

Vishav Bharti

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, May 6

Voters in the Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency are not known to be kind to its leaders. It is no surprise that it has in the past preferred Communist leader Teja Singh Sutantar (1971), Simranjit Singh Mann (1999) and Bhagwant Mann (2014) to many a heavyweight. This election may be no different.

 Harvesting has come to an end, yet there are no signs of electioneering on the Zirakpur-Bathinda highway, except for a few hoardings with Capt Amarinder Singh’s giant picture and the slogan “Sara Punjab, Captain de naal”, which AAP claims has been stolen from them.

 Enter nearby villages, and the ground reality seems rather odd. Only two years in office and a divided Opposition, yet it is clear the Congress’ honeymoon in Punjab is over. People have started asking for “ghar-ghar rozgar”. In her twenties, Pardeep Kaur from Wazid Ke Kalan village on the Barnala-Ludhiana road, who is MSC (IT), works as a typist for a paltry Rs 4,000 a month. “Where are the jobs,” she asks angrily.

 Kewal Singh Dhillon, a two-time Congress MLA from Barnala, lost to AAP in the 2017 Assembly elections. He is now challenging AAP’s Bhagwant Mann, who won the seat by 2.11 lakh votes in 2014. The SAD has fielded former Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa.

 The Congress candidate and his men are facing hostile crowds in villages. They are shown black flags and turned away. The Dalits are angry at the government’s decision to discontinue free power to them, TET-qualified teachers for denial of jobs and sugarcane farmers for delay in payment. Dhillon claims these incidents are “orchestrated” by his AAP rival. This is vehemently denied by young Bahal Singh. “I am ready for any punishment if anyone can prove that I ever supported or voted for AAP,” he says.

 The situation is worse for SAD-BJP candidate Dhindsa. The Akalis are yet to recover from the crushing defeat in the 2017 Assembly elections. Except Lehragaga, the SAD was trounced in all Assembly constituencies. Dhindsa is trying hard to garner votes in the name of PM Narendra Modi. No mention of note ban or GST, he chooses to dwell on ‘akhand Bharat’.

 Local BJP leaders admit to cold response in towns too. “There is no doubt that traders are annoyed with us because of demonetisation and GST,” says Lalit Garg, district president, Vyapar Mahasangh, Barnala. 

 Last elections, people had spent from their own pocket to see Mann enter Parliament. They are disappointed that the ‘common man’s MP’ remained inaccessible to them for five years. “Look at my performance in the Lok Sabha as MP and the funds I distributed in villages,” justifies Mann, whose main advantage over his opponents is his extraordinary communication skills. He turns each speech into a dialogue between himself and the audience, leaving them spellbound. 

 Punjab Ekta Party’s Jassi Jasraj and Simranjit Singh Mann are in the fray too. Electoral history indicates Sangrur does not re-elect its leader. This leaves everyone wondering if the voters will ‘punish’ Mann too or will he defy history and win once more.