Captain bats for Jakhar, but Bajwa digs in his heels
CHANDIGARH: Chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh met Congress president Sonia Gandhi at her New Delhi residence on Monday to discuss names of probable candidates for the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll slated for October 11. Sources said he recommended state unit chief Sunil Jakhar as the most suitable candidate after feedback from party leaders and his own inputs.
Feedback collected by state affairs in-charge Asha Kumari was shared with Jakhar and Captain on Sunday. The bypoll was necessitated after the death of BJP MP Vinod Khanna in April.
Former Abohar MLA Jakhar, when contacted, said he could not comment on the candidate as the final decision will be taken by party vice-president Rahul Gandhi who is in the US. “I will work hard to ensure victory of whoever the party high command decides to field,” he said.
But Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa has dug in his heels. Bajwa — who represented Gurdaspur in the Lok Sabha after winning it in 2009 against Khanna; but lost in 2014 — said no final decision has been taken: “The high command will have to take all stakeholders into confidence if they want to win a difficult seat like Gurdaspur.”
He has been lobbying for the ticket to his wife, Charanjit Kaur Bajwa, a former MLA who gave up Qadian in the assembly polls to make way for Bajwa’s younger brother, Fateh Jang Bajwa. Fateh won and was the first to seek a “local candidate” for the LS seat.
While the party largely sees Jakhar as the best bet, the Bajwas don’t want to give up claim when the next general elections are in 2019, and the seat will then be up for grabs for a full term again.