UCPMA polls: Rival groups claim support from same bizmen

Ludhiana: With just two days remaining for the United Cycle and Parts Manufacturers Association (UCPMA) elections scheduled for September 5, the election campaign of the 16 candidates from both the rival groups gathered steam on Tuesday. In an attempt to out-do each other, the candidates of both groups are leaving no stone unturned to reach out to the 1,589 voters.
Meanwhile, in an interesting chain of events leading to confusion among voters, the two groups led by D S Chawla and Rajeev Jain, who are both contesting for the post of president, respectively, have made social media banners claiming support from the same prominent businessmen. Since Monday, the Chawla group was circulating social media posters carrying pictures of its eight candidates along with the information that the group was being supported by several leading businessmen including Upkar Singh Ahuja, K K Seth, Tejwinder Singh and others, but on Tuesday, the second group led by Rajeev Jain also circulated similar posters claiming support from most of the same businessmen as those claimed by the Chawla group.
In another development on Tuesday, pictures of Rajeev Jain and several contestants of his group were shared on social media in which they could be seen with K K Seth, who on Monday had openly supported Chawla’s group by attending a programme conducted by the group, while skipping out on the Jain group’s programme.
Later, on Tuesday evening, some of the businessmen issued clarifications saying that they are supporting only one group. In an appeal over WhatsApp groups, former president of UCPMA, Charanjit Vishwkarma, who has lent his support to Rajeev Jain’s group, said: “It has come to our attention that the Vishivkarma name is being misused in the election campaign for UCPMA. Please note that the Vishivkarma group wholeheartedly and unanimously supports Rajeev Jain’s group. Please disregard any messages or phone calls with false and fake information.”
Look at the contestants pitted against each other
Post DS Chawla Group Rajeev Jain Group
President DS Chawla Rajeev Jain
General Secretary Manjinder Singh Sachdeva Rupak Sood
Vice President Satnam Singh Makkar Kanwarjit Singh Sahiwal
Senior Vice President Amrik Singh Karamsar Gurcharan Singh Gemco
Secretary Harsimrat Singh Lucky Rajinder Singh Pappu
Joint Secretary Vlaiti Ram Durga Kulpreet Singh Malhotra
Propoganda Secretary Rajinder Singh Sarhali Ajit Kumar
Finance Secretary Achhru Ram Gupta Vinod Kapila