Gurdaspur LS bypoll: Sunil Jakhar files papers, Partap Bajwa cries betrayal
NOT ALL WELL WITHIN Younger brother Fateh Jang Bajwa, however, accompanied Jakhar
GURDASPUR: Claims of the Congress denying rift within the party fell flat as Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa, a former Lok Sabha MP from Gurdaspur seat, didn’t turn up when party nominee chief Sunil Jakhar filed his nomination. But his brother was there.
GURDASPUR: Filing their papers on the concluding day of nominations, two main contenders in the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll, Congress’ Sunil Jakhar and B ha ra ti ya Jan ta Party( B JP) candidate Swaran Singh Salaria, kicked off their election campaign on Friday.
However, claims of the Congress regime denying rift within the party fell flat as Rajya Sabha MP Par tap Singh Bajwa, a former Lok Sabha MP from the seat, didn’t turn up when Jakhar filed his nomination. Chief minister Capt Amarin der Singhwas with Jakhar, and so was Partap Bajwa’ s younger brother, Q ad ian MLA Fateh Jang Bajwa, besides state party affairs in-charge Ash a Ku maria nd local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu.
Bajwa, who had sought the ticket for his wife Charanjit Kaur Bajwa after Fateh became MLA from a seat she had held earlier, expressed dismay over the party’s decision to field an “outsider” — Jakhar is from Abohar in Faz ilka district, around 300 km away—for the October 11 by poll necessitated by the death of BJP’ s Vinod Khanna.
“Captain Amarinder had promised my wife the ticket for Gurdaspur byelection in front of Ash a Ku mari, the party’ s Punjab affairs in-charge; but he betrayed us,” Bajwa told HT over phone. He said his wife had left the Qadian seat — which falls in this LS segment — to accommodate Fateh Jang only after Captain promised her the ticket for Gurdaspur in the next LS polls.
“Our family has influence in each of the nine assembly constituencies in Gurdaspur parliamentary seat. An outside r should not have been fielded here,” said Bajwa, who lost to Khanna in 2014. He also underlined that the party has fielded a Hindu in Jakhar whereas five of the nine MLAs here are Sikhs.
Commenting on his differences with Amarinder, who had backed Jakhar, Bajwa said that he had stepped down as state Congress chief after Am arin der “conspired” against him “then too ”.
Meanwhile, not talking about Bajwa, Amarinder said on the occasion, “Salaria is neither a man of words nor has a fixed stand. He approached me for the Congress ticket a month back. After I refused, he joined hands with the BJP. He was earlier refused the Congress ticket in 2009. He is not bothered about any party; he wants to contest elections relying on his money.”
Talking to the media, Jakhar said, “I never wished to contest these elections necessitated by the death of Vinod Khanna, as I was his huge fan. It could have been saddening for me to contest against his wife, but Salaria is no threat.” He reiterated that the Congress pitch will be based on “blunders” of the central government and works of the state government. “GST, fuel hike and demo net is at ion have proved to be a nightmare.”
HELP FROM HOMETOWN
Also, Jakhar’s supporters from his hometown Ab oh arin Faz ilka district are planning to reach Gurdaspur.
Already, phone calls and family connections, besides friendships, are being explored from around 300km away, from not only Abohar but also areas of Haryana and Rajasthan.
Sanjay Kumar, a Pathankot resident, said his friend Surinder Gandhi from Abohar called him up and exhorted him to support Jakhar.
He also told him that a large number of supporters would join Jakhar in the coming days.
Jakhar, a three-time former MLA from Abohar, had lost this time. However, the Jakhar family considers Abohar — which houses its native village — its home turf with Sunil Jakhar’s father, the late Balram Jakhar, having remained MLA and also MP from the region.