As diplomat-turned-politician Hardeep Singh Puri makes his foray into electoral battle with the aim of wresting the Amritsar seat from the Congress, the focus for his party, the BJP, remains on national security and pro-Sikh initiatives taken by the Union government. Residents, however, feel that politicians should focus on addressing “local” problems.
Gurjeet Singh Aujla, sitting Congress MP, is seen facing anti-incumbency as his opponents are targeting the Congress government in the State on account of several promises made during the 2017 Assembly election but not kept.
Election frenzy is yet to pick up in Amritsar, which is witnessing a direct fight between the Congress and the BJP, though 30 candidates are in the fray, including Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal of the Aam Aadmi Party.
Mr. Puri, who is the Union Minister of State for Urban Housing, has been hitting out at the Congress government in Punjab, always making it a point to reiterate that decisions such as opening of the Kartarpur corridor with Pakistan, setting up of a special investigation team to investigate the 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases and the action against terror after the Pulwama attack were taken by the Union government.
“The Congress in Punjab has betrayed farmers. They promised to waive off farmers’ loans completely but then took a U-turn. The youth are still waiting for jobs. They promised smartphones, but till now no one has got it. On the other hand, the BJP government led by Narendra Modi has done all-round development and the party’s manifesto has a vision for the future of the nation,” Mr. Puri told The Hindu.
The Amritsar seat shot into the limelight during the 2014 Lok Sabha election when Capt. Amarinder Singh, now Chief Minister, defeated Arun Jaitley of the BJP. However, Capt. Singh resigned after being elected Chief minister in the subsequent byelection, Mr. Aujla won by defeating Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina of the BJP. Traditionally, Amritsar remained a Congress bastion until cricketer-turned-politician Najvot Singh Sidhu won it in 2004 and retained it till 2014.
Mr. Aujla was quick to attack the BJP for “para-dropping” its candidate. He seems to have an advantage of being a “local face”. He has been campaigning across the nine Assembly segments over two months and is focussing on the “development work” done by the State government and by him in his capacity as an MP.
‘Local’ is USP
At his public meetings and door-to-door campaigns, the Congress candidate does not forget to convey the message that he is a “local”. At a rally in Mirakot village, he targeted the BJP for “dividing the country in the name of religion and communities”. Local people have a mixed response to the campaign. It’s not just about the candidates. As this election is about electing an MP, national issues play a role. For example, I feel the foreign policy of the NDA government was good but at the same time decisions such as demonetisation and implementation of GST were bad. I haven’t seen any benefit of the GST for my business,” says Rakesh Malhotra, who runs a bicycle repair shop on Durgiana Mandir Road.
Krishan Kumar Sharma, president of the Amritsar Textile Processor Association, says, “Local textile industry is still suffering from the adverse effects of demonetisation and implementation of the GST. We have not yet recovered from the shock. Poor planning in implementation of these decisions hit the textile industry badly.”
Running a roadside eatery after his father passed away, Prince, 24, does not have high hopes from politicians. “All of them seem to be the same, they come and promise and then nothing changes for people like me. My father had been running this eatery for over 35 years and yet we don’t have a permanent shop to run our business. Moreover, the municipal corporation had started charging ₹1,500 as monthly fees. Currently, they are not charging but I am sure once the elections are over they will resume charging. If they want to charge fees, at least a permanent structure should be given to run the business,” he says.
Kala, 33, who runs a tea stall near Haathi Gate, says, “What matters to me is my daily earning. I don’t understand issues of national importance. All I want is a permanent structure in which I can run my stall and feel that my future is a bit safe.”