Pathankot MLA Amit Vij looks to ride on development works

Ravi Dhaliwal

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Pathankot, February 3

It has been raining for the past 48 hours. To compound matters, the weatherman says the conditions are unlikely to improve in the next few days. MLA Amit Vij’s campaign has indeed been thrown into chaos.

“In Pathankot, the political battlefield in itself has been turned into a constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and enemies’,” says Vij. Unmindful of the gloom around him, he brims with the youthful exuberance of a teenager.

Executive to legislator

• MLA Amit Vij has come a long way from being a top executive of an MNC to being a legislator
• With at least a dozen of his diehard supporters having deserted him, he looks to win them over
• On Thursday, Vij poached AAP spokesperson Teena Chowdhury, who has a strong connect with women of the area

He is elated because barely an hour ago, he executed a major kill. Vij and his brother, Ashish Vij, who is also his backroom boy, had been working on this for the past several weeks. Finally, today they poached Punjab AAP spokesperson Teena Chowdhury. “Teena was a vital cog in AAP’s wheel. She has a strong connect with women of the area,” said Vij.

Vij has indeed come a long way from being a top executive of an MNC to being an MLA.

The fickle weather has forced a change in plans. He will now be visiting his friends-turned-foes and later in the afternoon will kickstart his door-to-door campaign. In the past few weeks, at least a dozen of his diehard supporters have deserted him. “I have immense love and respect for them. They will be back with me because love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend,” he quips.

A supporter calls him to say a prominent candidate was holding a rally in the time of Covid. “Calm down. Never disturb your enemy while he is committing a mistake,” Vij told him. The man certainly knows the tricks of his trade.

The MLA harps on the development initiatives carried out by him. “Several projects, big and small, have come up at a cost of Rs 450 crore. The most important is the Dakhi road overbridge. A sum of Rs 40 crore has been spent on recarpeting of roads. As many as 25 community halls and 21 parks have been established. All government schools in my seat have been converted into smart schools. The list goes on,” maintains Vij.

He says his biggest achievement has been to nurse the ailing Hindu co-operative bank back to good health.