MP’S REPORT CARD: KHALSA REMAINED MISSING IN ACTION FOR MOST OF THE TIME

MP stayed away after he was suspended from AAP’s primary membership for holding public meet seeking autonomy for state unit in Aug 2015

CHANDIGARH: Where is our MP? We have not seen him. That’s the common refrain as one travels through Fatehgarh Sahib Lok Sabha constituency.

Harinder Singh Khalsa, who won the seat riding the pro-Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) wave in its first election in the state in 2014, has not been seen in the constituency for most part of his tenure. His participation in the Lok Sabha proceedings has also been below par.

The former diplomat-turned-politician, who lives in Ludhiana, rarely came to office in the constituency. “Khalsa has been lackadaisical in holding meetings of the district vigilance monitoring committee, which he heads to supervise the implementation of government-run schemes and programmes, for most part of his tenure,” says Fatehgarh Sahib Congress MLA Kuljit Singh Nagra.

PEOPLE FEEL NEGLECTED

The two-time MP’s long absence rattled residents of Bassi Pathana so much that they started a campaign last month offering to reward anyone who is able to locate him.

But his aides are in denial. “This is not true. There are 1,208 villages in the parliamentary constituency and he cannot go to every village and home. Unlike other politicians, he is not fond of attending bhog ceremonies or weddings. Though there is a perception that he has not been meeting people in the area, the MP visited the constituency regularly,” says Ricky Walia, an aide of Khalsa.

However, local residents have a different opinion. Amardeep Singh, a member of Sirhind municipal council, says Khalsa did not meet people, take up their issues or attend to their calls. “I don’t know why he became an MP. If someone reaches his home in Ludhiana, he doesn’t meet them,” he says, adding, “He has been promising development works to constituents but did not do much to fulfil them.”

FELL OUT WITH AAP LEADERSHIP

Khalsa, who was an Akali MP from Bathinda from 1996-99, joined the AAP a few weeks before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and romped home by a handsome margin.

He was among the four party MPs in the state, but did not get along with the party leadership for long.

Patiala MP Dr Dharamvira Gandhi and he were suspended from the primary membership of the AAP in August 2015 for indulging in “anti-party activities” by holding a public meeting in Baba Bakala to demand autonomy for the state unit. Since then, Khalsa has remained aloof from any political activity of the party and appears to be in no mood to return to the party fold. He has also no love lost for the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and appears to have a soft corner for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), thanks to his close association with finance Arun Jaitley and Union housing and urban development minister Hardeep Singh Puri, his Indian Foreign Service batchmate. He was among the speakers at a lecture series held by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Delhi last year.

DISBURSED FUNDS THROUGH MLAs

In the absence of party cadre or his personal support base, Khalsa operated through MLAs irrespective of their party allegiance. “It did not matter whether he had met anyone or not, but the MP sanctioned grants from his MP Local Area Development (MPLAD) fund whenever and wherever I asked or my supporters sought,” says Sahnewal SAD MLA Sharanjit Singh Dhillon.

Amloh Congress MLA Kaka Randeep Singh echoes the view. “Please don’t ask me whether he met people of the constituency or not. He gave the funds I asked for and my purpose was solved,” he says.

Of the nine assembly constituencies in Fatehgarh

Sahib Lok Sabha seat, six – Bassi Pathana, Fatehgarh Sahib, Amloh, Khanna, Samrala and Payal – have Congress MLAs. Amargarh and Sahnewal segments are represented by SAD MLAs and only one, Raikot, has an

AAP legislators.

What do I say about such a poor performance? People of Fatehgarh Sahib know better because he was nowhere in the constituency in the past five years. SADHU SINGH DHARAMSOT, Congress Khalsa has proved to be a big zero. People kept looking for their MP and he was just not available. The constituency went unrepresented. KULWANT SINGH, Shiromani Akali Dal