In old citadel, SAD faces a stiff challenge

Party may field ex-MLA Valtoha; name of Jadgish Kaur, witness in 84 riots, also doing the rounds; from Cong, ex-MLA Jasbir Dimpa, Inderjit Zira, Inderjit Basarke in race; SAD (Taksali) may field Ravinder Brahmpura

KHADOORSAHIB:A Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) citadel, Khadoor Sahib parliamentary seat has stayed with the Panthic party since 1977 (except 1992 when it boycotted the polls).

But this time, a hot contest is likely since sitting MP Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, one of the Akali veterans referred to as taksali leaders, dumped the party and formed a breakaway faction, SAD (Taksali).

The name of the constituency, earlier known as Tarn Taran, was changed during the 2008 delimitation to Khadoor Sahib, a historic village where second Sikh master Guru Angad Dev lived for 13 years.

In the previous elections, the Congress tried to break into this SAD fortress, but to no avail. In 2009, party’s firebrand leader Rana Gurjit Singh lost to Akali Dal’s Rattan Singh Ajnala (now in SAD-Taksali) by 32,260 votes. In 2014, Harminder Singh Gill, who was a member of the All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) and spent a couple of years in detention in Jodhpur (Rajasthan) after the Operation Bluestar, faced defeat at the hands of SAD’s Ranjit Singh Brahmpura with a huge margin of over 1 lakh votes.

Former MLA Virsa Singh Valtoha is being tipped as the Akali Dal candidate and he has been holding meetings with the party workers and local leaders, especially placating those exploring prospects in Taksali party.

“I am not willing to contest. I want to serve my constituency, Khemkaran. I will decide on contesting the parliamentary elections when the party asks me to,” he said.

The SAD leadership is also considering the name of Jagdish Kaur, the prime complainant in the case against Congress leader Sajjan Kumar who was convicted by the Delhi High Court for his role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. By fielding Kaur from Khadoor Sahib, SAD, which has been marginalised in Punjab over incidents of sacrilege and Behbal Kalan firing, is expected to make an impact in the constituency.

Kaur, however, said she was not interested in fighting elections. “Leaders of many political parties, including SAD, approached me but I am not interested in fighting elections,” she said.

The third name among SAD probables is that of former minister Hari Singh Zira, who has considerable hold in the Zira assembly constituency (Ferozepur district) which too is a part of the Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha constituency. If the party insiders are to be believed, SAD may also consider former minister Aadesh Partap Singh Kairon’s wife and party patriarch Parkash Singh Badal’s daughter Parneet Kaur.

Congress MLA Kulbir Singh Zira’s father Inderjit Singh Zira, a former Akali Dal leader, ex-minister Gurchet Singh Bhullar and his son and Anoop Bhullar are also in the race for the ticket.

Jasbir Singh Dimpa, a former MLA, is also keen to throw his hat in the ring as his native village Lidhar is in the Baba Bakala assembly segment which is part of the parliamentary segment. “I am keen to fight the election from this constituency but it’s the party (Congress) which will take call on this.”

Also, former Amritsar district president Inderjit Singh Basarke has shown his willingness to contest.

SAD (Taksali) chief Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, who has been claiming not to contest any elections in future, wants his son Ravinder to take a plunge.

In the absence of Bhai Baldeep Singh, who as Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) finished third in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the party is likely to consider district president Bhupinder Singh Bittu.