Akali stronghold ready to be shaken?

JALANDHAR: With less than a year left to the next general elections, the Shahkot assembly bypoll — necessitated by the demise of previous MLA Ajit Singh Kohar of the SAD —is going to be a mandate on the Congress’s performance in the 15 months it has been in power.
The 1.75-lakh strong electorate of the assembly, which happens to be an Akali stronghold for the past 40 years, will go to vote on Monday. While the result is not expected to be of much importance in terms of the position of parties in the state assembly, it is expected to be a crucial indicator of who the people of the state vote for, the Congress or the SAD, in the parliamentary elections in 2019.

In case Congress wins, it will not only get a two-third majority in the assembly, but will also breach the Akali stronghold. The only time Akalis did not win the seat was in the 1992 elections, which is remembered more for an extremely low voter turnout due to a boycott by the Akalis.

For the SAD, which was relegated to the third position in the 2017 assembly elections, this bypoll will be crucial for it to convey the message that it has on the road to recovery from the humiliating loss.

After the 2017 assembly elections, SAD has already lost the Gurdaspur parliamentary bypoll and municipal elections.

While chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh visited the constituency just twice for campaigning, SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal did not visit it at all. However, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia ran an aggressive campaign to retain the “Panthic seat”.

The biggest plank for the Congress, though not explained in so many words, is that the constituency would benefit from its four years of rule. Its leaders have been seeking votes for Congress nominee Hardev Singh Laddi Sherwoalia by saying the party implemented development projects worth around Rs 113 crore in the constituency during the 15 months of its rule. SAD has tried to gain sympathy votes for its candidate, Naib Singh Kohar, son of Ajit Singh Kohar, saying the family has represented the constituency since 1997 and never lost an election.

Though AAP got over 40,000 votes in the 2017 elections in the seat, it has not aggressively campaigned this time around and the fight appears to be between the Congress and the SAD. In a jolt for the AAP, candidate Dr Amarjit Thind joined Akali Dal a couple of months ago. The new party candidate, Ratan Singh Kakkar Kalan, is better known as a philanthropist.