Keen contest likely in four crucial Malwa districts

Four of the Malwa districts in Punjab having a large chunk of Assembly seats in the region are expected to see a keen contest in the panchayat samiti and zila parishad polls scheduled for December 14.

Malwa is the biggest geographical region in the state with 69 Assembly constituencies. The four districts likely to see a keen contest are Patiala, Sangrur, Fatehgarh Sahib and Ludhiana.

Put together, these districts have 30 Assembly segments, around one-fourth of the 117 seats in the state Assembly. Sangrur, the home district of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his cabinet colleagues Aman Arora and Harpal Cheema, was once considered a SAD bastion.

Ruling AAP seems to face a stiff competition from the Congress, with senior Opposition party leader Vijay Inder Singla busy touring villages. Akali factions are also trying to woo voters while a faction led by former minister Parminder Dhindsa is likely to play a key role.

In Ludhiana, AAP leaders are hoping to benefit from Congress factionalism apart from recent development works done in various constituencies and the appointment of Sanjeev Arora as a state minister.

Ludhiana has 793 candidates in fray in 235 zones for panchayat samiti polls, which is the highest in the state.

In Patiala, Congress youth leader Mohit Mohindra is leading the party bandwagon against Cabinet minister Balbir Singh and Akali factions.

“I believe in good governance and work. Development is the key to electoral politics and I have ensured overall development of my wards,” said Balbir Singh.

Mohindra assures that the Congress had an edge as the anti-incumbency and incomplete works in villages would ensure support to the party.