Vinod Khanna’s wife Kavita, Sunil Jakhar in race for Gurdaspur

Tribune News Service

Ravi Dhaliwal

Gurdaspur, February 27

Ex-MP and state BJP chief Sunil Jakhar and Kavita Khanna, wife of four-time MP and film icon Vinod Khanna, are leading the race for the BJP with half a dozen more contenders trying their luck.

Jakhar remained the Gurdaspur MP for 18 months and hence knows the political topography of the area. He, however, is keeping his cards close to the chest. On the other hand, there is a growing feeling that the party will use his services in all 13 seats. A decent performance means the doors of the Rajya Sabha will open for him.

Kavita Khanna, a Barrister-at-Law and a postgraduate in economics from a London university, had been in contention for the 2017 bypoll and the 2019 elections. Her appointment as chairperson of the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Sonepat, indicates that she is on the right side of the central leadership. She also enjoys the unstinted support of a powerful spiritual leader having close ties in the top echelons of the BJP.

Pathankot MLA Ashwani Sharma is also interested but what goes against him is the fact that he had protested Jakhar’s elevation as the state president. Also in the fray are ex-MLAs Ashwani Sekhri, Fateh Jung Bajwa and Dinesh Babbu and former Pathankot Mayor Anil Vasudeva. In fact, Vasudeva has been the BJP’s go-to man when the going gets tough for the party.

AICC leaders are making a case for a Hindu candidate. Their logic is that four Assembly seats of the constituency are Hindu-dominated. Ex-Pathankot MLA Amit Vij perfectly fits the bill. Vij hopes to ride on the Hindu-dominated seats of Bhoa, Pathankot, Sujanpur and Dinanagar. He also aims to make a dent in Gurdaspur and Batala seats, both of which have a fair inkling of Hindu voters.

Gurdaspur youth Congress chief Baljeet Singh Pahra is a late entrant. He is working hard to hold a rally on March 2 which is expected to be attended by national youth president BV Srinivas and PPCC chief Raja Warring.

Congress stalwarts like Partap Bajwa and Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa have declined to contest.

For AAP, the names being mentioned are of Pathankot eye surgeon Dr KD Singh and chairman of the Gurdaspur Planning Board Jagroop Singh Sekhwan.

For SAD, Majha youth president Ravi Karan Kahlon and ex-Cabinet minister Daljit Singh Cheema are the front runners. Cheema hails from Sri Hargobindpur which is a part of Gurdaspur district.

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