Seasoned leaders attempt maiden foray into race for Ferozepur seat

Anirudh Gupta

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Ferozepur, March 9

Considered to be an ‘Akali’ bastion, this parliamentary constituency is likely to see new faces from all political outfits this time. For the last six consecutive terms since 1998, SAD has won this seat, while before that BSP grabbed this seat twice in 1992 and 1996. On the other hand, the Congress last won this seat in 1985 and subsequently it has bitten the dust primarily due to internal strife and one-upmanship amidst its leaders.

Speculation is rife that the sitting MP and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal might not contest this time. In his place, the SAD is likely to bring a new face for which names of Vardev Singh Noni Maan, whose father Zora Singh Maan remained MP for three terms besides Kanwardeep Singh Rozi Barkandi from Muktsar and Joginder Singh Jindu, who is the Dalit face of the party here, are doing the rounds. Senior SAD Leader Janmeja Singh Sekhon has not evinced interest to contest the polls till now.

From AAP, the list of aspirants is long which includes Shaminder Singh Khinda, who belongs to Kamboj community, besides Karan Gilhotra who represents formidable Hindu Arora community which has over 4.5 lakh voters. In addition to them, Harpreet Sandhu, Angrej Singh Warwal, who belongs to Rai Sikh community, besides Jagdip Singh Goldy Kamboj and Ranbir Singh Bhullar, both MLAs are also in the fray to secure party nomination. At present, none of the AAP MLAs is from Hindu Arora community which has 32 per cent of vote share, following by Jatt Sikhs (25), Rai Sikhs (18), Kamboj community (11), Dalits (14) besides others.

From Congress, former MP Sher Singh Ghubaya who had lost to Sukhbir Singh Badal last time, wishes to try his luck again. Ghubaya had earlier won this seat twice as an SAD candidate in 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha polls, however, owing to his differences with Sukhbir, he switched over to Congress. Former MLAs Raminder Singh Awla, Parminder Singh Pinki and Kulbir Singh Zira are also keen contenders for the ticket. Both, Awla and Kulbir are considered youth faces of the party, and hold clout in their home constituencies.

In the saffron party, senior BJP leader Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi and Surjit Singh Jyani are amongst the main probable. Sodhi has been in forefront of all BJP activities for the last two years since he left Congress to join saffron bandwagon.

In all probability, it is going to be a war of young turks and close four-sided contest in on the cards unless Akali and BJP decide to forge an alliance. For SAD alone, it might not be a cakewalk this time to continue their winning spree, and Congress will like to break the jinx besides AAP will like to capitalise on the fact that its MLAs represents eight out of nine assembly segments in this seat.

Sukhbir Badal may not contest from Ferozepur this time

• Speculation is rife that the sitting MP and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal might not contest this time. In his place, the SAD is likely to bring a new face. Names of Vardev Singh Noni Maan, whose father Zora Singh Maan remained MP for three terms, Kanwardeep Singh Rozi Barkandi from Muktsar and Joginder Singh Jindu, who is the Dalit face of the party here, are doing the rounds
• From AAP, Shaminder Singh Khinda, who belongs to Kamboj community, and Karan Gilhotra, who represents formidable Hindu Arora community which has over 4.5 lakh voters, are probable candidates. In addition to them, Harpreet Sandhu and Angrej Singh Warwal, who belongs to Rai Sikh community, besides MLAs Jagdip Singh Goldy Kamboj and Ranbir Singh Bhullar are also in the fray
• From Congress, former MP Sher Singh Ghubaya, who had lost to Sukhbir Singh Badal last time, wishes to try his luck again. Ghubaya had earlier won this seat twice as a SAD candidate in 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Former MLAs Raminder Singh Awla, Parminder Singh Pinki and Kulbir Zira are also keen contenders for the ticket
• In the saffron party, senior BJP leader Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi and Surjit Singh Jyani are amongst the probables. Sodhi has been in forefront of all activities of the BJP for the last two years