Randhawa wants to defend the family bastion against AAP and BJP

The poll became necessary after former deputy chief minister Randhawa was elected MP from Gurdaspur.

Both the AAP and BJP candidates also unsuccessfully contested the 2022 general elections from here. Kahlon, the son of Nirmal Singh Kahlon, an Akali stalwart and former Speaker of the Punjab Assembly, contested the elections on the ticket of the SAD, fought a tough fight with the then deputy CM Randhawa and lost by just 466 votes. While Randhawa’s vote share was 36.41%, Kahlon secured 36.08% of the votes. The AAP’s Gurdeep Singh Randhawa came third with just 22% of the votes, despite an unprecedented wave of support for the AAP across the country.

The historic town of Dera Baba Nanak rose to prominence after it was connected to Guru Nanak’s final resting place, Kartarpur Sahib (Pakistan), through a visa-free border corridor, a long-standing demand of India’s Sikh community.

There is a lot at stake for the deputy CM’s family

The poll is turning out to be a prestige battle for Sukhjinder and he is leaving no stone unturned to protect his bastion from a challenge from the ruling party.

The border constituency has two main themes: development and employment. Villages near the zero line are still backward and girls have to travel long distances for further studies.

Dera Baba Nanak constituency, which falls under Fatehgarh Churian, was carved out in 2012 and since then Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa has won from here.

However, Sukhjinder Randhawa’s victories were anything but one-sided. Against SAD’s Sucha Singh Langah, the 2012 and 2017 competitions remained neck-and-neck.

Sukhjinder won by just 1,194 votes in 2017, while the margin was 2,940 votes in 2012. His son Udayvir Singh and wife Jatinder Kaur remained active in the constituency and were in touch with the people.

To woo voters, Sukhjinder Randhawa highlights development works during the Congress regime. “AAP national chief Arvind Kejriwal and CM Bhagwant Mann appreciated the projects initiated during the Congress regime. During a rally in Agwan village, Kejriwal announced that many projects have already been implemented and I have laid the foundation stone for some. They are selling blatant lies to deceive voters,” Randhawa said at an election rally.

Will usher in a new era of development: AAP candidate

Gurdeep Randhawa is considered an important player and, with the support of the ruling party, sees an opportunity to end Randhawa’s winning streak.

Both AAP leaders, including CM Bhagwant Mann and Arvind Kejriwal, have held rallies in his favor in the last few days. Mann has given speeches at two political rallies that focused on both Congress and his candidate.

The AAP leaders see the poll as a chance for voters to elect an MLA from the ruling party who will open doors of funds for the development and welfare of the segment. “As Sewadar of this Halqa for the last two and a half years, I have ensured that a lot of development works were carried out efficiently. In addition, people benefit from nationwide social benefits from the current government. Voters will support AAP,” said Gurdeep Randhawa.

Kahlon relies on the family legacy

In the rural constituency, the dominant Jat-Sikhs were the SAD’s main voter group. Ravikaran Singh Khalon faces a tough fight as the saffron party candidate.

With negligible presence of BJP cadres, Khalon is relying on his family legacy to win votes. In the 2022 general elections, the BJP candidate could secure only 1,913 votes. However, Kahlon’s family has strong ties to this rural constituency and could be a dark horse on election day. His father, late Nirmal Singh Kahlon, represented Fatehgarh Churian constituency in the Assembly twice, in 1997 and 2007. Before the last delimitation just before the 2012 general elections, Dera Baba Nanak was excluded from Fatehgarh Churian constituency.

In the campaign, he and BJP workers list the tasks that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has done for Punjab and Sikhs, including opening the Kartarpur corridor, and also raise local issues. “People have a chance to teach the AAP government and the Congress a lesson. I hope people in this segment will do their duty well,” Kahlon said at an election rally.

Although the SAD is not participating in the elections, the Langah family also holds power in this segment and it will be interesting to see which candidate the die-hard Panthic voters will support.