PATIALA: With Punjab set to witness an intriguing electoral battle between the SAD-BJP alliance, AAP and Congress — the parties have fielded key leaders in the major constituencies across the State. Former Punjab CM and Congress president Amarinder Singh is contesting against former Army chief General J J Singh (retd) from Patiala and CM Parkash Singh Badal from Lambi.
While Badal senior had won four consecutive terms from Lambi, currently the constituency reveals an undercurrent of dissent against the incumbent. It was the AAP which first upped the ante on the Lambi seat by fielding Delhi lawmaker Jarnail Singh, who hogged the limelight for throwing a shoe at the then Union home minister P Chidambaram in Delhi in 2009, to take on Badal senior.
A confident Amarinder says that he would cook Badal’s goose on his home turf. “I am contesting from Lambi as I want to teach a lesson to those who have looted and ruined Punjab,” said Amarinder Singh.
Lambi falls in the Malout subdivision of Muktsar district. It is part of the Bathinda parliamentary constituency which is represented in the Lok Sabha by Union minister Harsimrat Badal who is also the daughter-in-law of the CM. Badal village, where the chief minister hails from, is part of this constituency.
AAP convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal left no stones unturned as he held five rallies in the constituency last week. “He will do five more,” said Jarnail Singh, brushing aside SAD and Congress’ attack on him for being an “outsider”.
Jarnail Singh adds that he is a Lahori and his grandparents had also moved from Lahore at the time of partition. However, they chose to settle down in Delhi, that is the only difference and it does not make him an outsider, he said.
Besides J J Singh, Amarinder has another serious opponent in Dr Balbir Singh from the Aam Aadmi Party in Patiala. With splits in AAP, MP Dr Dharamvir Gandhi, who was suspended from the party, has fielded his own candidates. During the last three elections, Capt Amarinder Singh has consistently improved upon his victory margin. In 2012 elections, his victory margin was about 40, 000.
This was despite the fact that he visited the city only twice-- first on the day of filing the nomination papers and the second was a public meeting. Despite the number of contenders or how serious and challenging they may tend to be, Amarinder remains on a sound footing in Patiala, his family borough.
After the ruling Badal and Amarinder, the battle is between finance minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa of SAD who is pitted against a former chief minister and veteran congress leader and five-time sitting MLA Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, from Lehragaga.
During her campaigning, Bhattal makes sure to tell the people that Parminder is an outsider. “Parminder Dhindsa betrayed and ran away from Sunam. He needs to explain that what made him run away from there and betray the people of the Assembly segment represented by him.’’
Taking Bhattal head-on, Dhindsa terms her as an outsider who did nothing for the constituency she had been representing for last twenty-five years. Parminder is the son of former Union minister and Akali stalwart Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, who is also Rajya Sabha member.