MAJITHA: Two brothers are slugging out against each other in Punjab's Majitha assembly constituency, with both exuding confidence of their victory.
Sukhjinder Raj Singh aka Lalli Majithia is contesting on an AAP ticket, while his younger brother Jagwinderpal Singh aka Jagga Majithia is trying his luck on a Congress ticket.
Majitha assembly constituency in Amritsar district is considered as the Shiromani Akali Dal's (SAD) bastion as sitting MLA Bikram Singh Majithia has been representing this seat since 2007.
But this time, Majithia decided against contesting from his home turf and will now contest from Amritsar East constituency to take on Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu who is seeking re-election from there.
The SAD has fielded Majithia's wife Ganieve Kaur from Majitha seat.
Majitha, part of Punjab's Majha region, has been a high profile constituency.
It has witnessed primarily a fight between the Congress and the SAD in the past but this time, the AAP is also posing a challenge to the contenders of both the traditional parties.
Sukhjinder Raj Singh, 65, last month quit the Congress and joined the AAP.
Thereafter the Congress fielded his younger brother Jagwinderpal in his place from Majitha assembly segment.
Jagwinderpal Singh, 59, said it was he who always worked on the ground when his elder brother was contesting from the Majitha seat.
"He (Lalli) did not come out of his home in the last four-and-a-half years and people told me to contest from here. Voters earlier also wanted me to contest from here because I work at the ground level," Jagwinderpal told PTI.
The differences between them appeared over the appointment of some market committee chairman last year, he said.
Jagwinderpal said he was not on talking terms with his elder brother.
He exuded confidence that he will win this battle of ballot against his brother.
"We will win 100 per cent," he said as he made claims of having the support of around 100 village sarpanches.
However, Sukhjinder Raj Singh does not see his brother in the electoral fight, saying the Majitha assembly seat will witness a contest only between the AAP and the SAD.
"Relationship is a social aspect but politically there can be different thinking and in one family, a father and a son also fight separately. If we are against each other (in the poll battle) it does not matter," he said.
Asked whether he sees his brother and the Congress as a political opponent, Sukhjinder said, "The fight here mainly will be between the AAP and the SAD."
However, both brothers are on the same page on the issue of lack of development in the constituency.
Jagwinderpal said there has been no development in the Majitha assembly constituency during Bikram Majithia's time.
"Neither there is any college, nor ITI, nor any industry here," he claimed as he targeted Bikram Majithia.
Sukhjinder Raj Singh lost the elections against Bikram Majithia in 2007, 2012 and 2017 from Majitha seat.
Majithia in 2017 defeated Sukhjinder by a margin of over 22,000 votes.
Kaur, who is in the fray from Majitha assembly segment, is a political greenhorn.
As she is campaigning from this seat, the 46-year-old Kaur said she will take care of the Majitha constituency the way she looks after her children.
Punjab goes to polls on February 20.