Kusum Arora

Jalandhar  

With the Congress finally fielding former union minister Manish Tewari, the turf was laid for an interesting contest between Congress, SAD, PDA, AAP and SAD (Taksali) for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

A practicing Supreme Court lawyer and Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari remained an MP from Ludhiana in the previous UPA government. His candidature was likely to give an interesting twist to the polls, as Manish Tewari is a prominent Hindu face of Congress.The SAD has fielded sitting MP Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra, the newly formed Punjab Democratic Front (PDA) by ex-AAP leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira has fielded BSP leader and international polo player Vikram Singh Sodhi, who is the descendant of the sixth guru of Sikhs- Guru Hargobind Singh and the AAP has fielded Narinder Shergill.

While SAD and BSP played the pathetic card and fielded prominent Sikh faces from Anandpur Sahib, Congress has repeated its old formula of relying on a Hindu face again. Earlier, senior Congress leader Ambika Soni remained an MP from Anandpur Sahib seat. Notably, BSP staked claim over Anandpur Sahib seat, as it comprises of reserve assembly segments from Nawanshahr and the Kandi belt of Hoshiarpur. “We fared well in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, when our candidate Punjabi singer Makhan Singh got around 70,000 votes from Anandpur Sahib. This time, we have fielded a local prominent Sikh face, which would definitely go in our favour”, said a BSP leader.

On the other hand, SAD preferred to bank upon Prem Singh Chandumajra, who actively took up Sikh issues in the parliament. Chandumajra was lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the first ever two convictions in the much awaited 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Even in his public addresses and rallies, Chandumajra was vociferously raising this issue, besides others.However, Congress leaders were of the view that even though Manish Tewari’s candidature was announced late but it would give him the benefit, given his political career, image as a leader and winnability factor. “Congress took ex-Anandpur Sahib MP Ambika Soni’s view before finalizing Manish Tewari’s name.

We are sure of a successful repeat of Congress government from this seat, as Tewari’s winning prospects were bright”, party leaders claimed.On the other hand, SAD (Taksali) has fielded ex-congress leader Bir Devinder Singh as its candidate from this seat. Among all the party leaders, SAD (Taksali) was the first announce its candidate from Anandpur Sahib seat. The AAP, which figured prominently in 2014 parliamentary polls was struggling to find base in Punjab now.

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