CHANDIGARH: With people upset about celebrities ignoring their Lok Sabha constituencies of Gurdaspur and Amritsar in the past, the BJP is weighing options on whether to field a celebrity again or a local in these seats of Punjab in the upcoming general elections, party leaders said.
The name of former US Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu as a possible candidate for Amritsar is doing the rounds. Though Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar is a likely contender for Gurdaspur, the buzz is that the party is also considering fielding former Team India cricketer Yuvraj Singh or actor Kangana Ranaut.
Many BJP leaders and workers said ‘outsiders’ elected from Amritsar and Gurdaspur hardly nurture their constituencies and appear only during polls.
“Such acts of these leaders erode the party’s support base. The ground-level leaders have to feel the heat as the people ask raise questions regarding their credibility. A hunt is on for a home-bred politician who is well-versed with local issues of the area,” said a local BJP leader, wishing not to be named.
“In the past, we have seen many outsiders who were unsuccessful. We want a person who is deep-rooted locally and can find solutions to people’s woes,” said the BJP leader.
Amritsar was once represented by cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu. In 2014 parliamentary elections, BJP leader Arun Jaitley was fielded in Amritsar but he lost to Congress’ Captain Amarinder Singh.
In the 2019 elections, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri lost the election from Amritsar mainly because, party leaders say, of his ‘outsider’ tag.
BJP sources said that as the saffron party has faced defeats thrice in Lok Sabha polls in Amritsar, it is considering all possibilities. “While there is a general talk of some ‘outsider’ or paratrooper testing the poll waters, a number of local party candidates are also favourites,” a party leader said.
“People want a candidate who is accessible to the public as an outsider hardly understands the local issues.”
In Gurdaspur, apart from BJP chief Jakhar, names of Yuvraj Singh, Kangana Ranaut and Sunny Deol are doing the rounds. In Amritsar, speculation is rife over the name of former US Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu.
“The feeling, however, is that locals like Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina, former RS MP Shawet Malik or BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh should be given a chance,” said a party leader.
BJP’s incumbent MP from Gurdaspur, Bollywood star Sunny Deol, hardly visited the constituency in last five years.
Local leaders of the party are averse to fielding Kangana because of her public utterances against Jat Sikhs during the farmers’ agitation in 2020 over the now repealed three farm laws. “Instead of Gurdaspur, the party may ask her to contest from the Mandi seat of Himachal Pradesh because she hails from Manali, which is a part of that seat,” said a party leader familiar with the matter.
There was speculation that Yuvraj might be fielded from Gurdaspur after he and his mother recently met Union minister Nitin Gadkari but it may not materialise, they said.
Jat comments may go against Kangana
In Gurdaspur, apart from BJP chief Sunil Jakhar, the names of former cricketer Yuvraj Singh, and actors Kangana Ranaut and Sunny Deol are doing the rounds. Local leaders of the party are averse to fielding Kangana because of her public utterances against Jat Sikhs during the farmers’ agitation in 2020 over the now repealed three farm laws. “Instead of Gurdaspur, the party may ask her to contest from the Mandi seat of Himachal Pradesh because she hails from Manali, which is a part of that seat,” said a party leader familiar with the matter.