Mukerian battle: Congress hopes to ride ‘sympathy wave’, BJP banks on nationalism
MUKERIAN (HOSHIARPUR): Vacated after the death of sitting MLA Rajneesh Kumar Babbi, the Mukerian assembly seat is witnessing a tough contest in the bypolls as the Congress is facing a challenging task to retain the seat dominated by voters of the Hindu community.
Things are not going smoothly for the ruling Congress on the ground, contrary to the expectations of party strategists who fielded Babbi’s wife Indu Bala to get ‘sympathy’ of the electorate in view of the family’s old ties with the voters.
Before two-time MLA Babbi, his father and former assembly speaker Dr Kewal Krishan had represented the seat five times.
With Babbi having health problems barely months after he was elected as MLA in March 2017, his family lost touch with the electorate, says few local Congress leaders.
Even as his son Sabhyasanchi kept on calling the shots in the administration, he failed to make a mark because of his ‘high profile’ style of functioning and that is why the party picked Babbi’s wife.
Even Indu Bala admits that they lost contact with voters due to her husband’s ailment. “I know there were some gaps. But all this was because of my husband’s ailment. I apologise for that, please forgive us,” Rani says with folded hands at a gathering in Budhawad village in presence of Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar. Bala, a graduate, is not very articulate and she mostly speaks about the sufferings of the family after the death of Babbi.
“Among Hindus and Sikhs, a woman hesitates to come out of her house after the demise of her husband. I lost my husband just two months ago. I never wanted to contest the polls, but the party asked me to serve you,” she says with tears in her eyes.
The family’s failure on the development front is said to be one the reasons why the BJP got a lead over 37,000 from this segment in the May Lok Sabha polls.
However, the BJP is expecting to win the seat on national issues in view of its superb performance here during the Lok Sabha polls. The party has fielded Jangi Lal Mahajan, a local moneybag, replacing its old warhorse and former minister Arunesh Shakar.
Shakar had contested five elections against Dr Kewal Krishan’s family and won twice. Mahajan had contested the previous assembly polls as BJP rebel and had managed to get over 20,000 votes and became the reason for BJP’s defeat. As the segment is dominated by Hindu voters, the party is banking upon hardcore BJP issues, including abrogation of Article 370. The region also has a large number of army personnel and ex-servicemen.
However, Shakar is the biggest challenge for BJP as he is yet to extend his whole-hearted support to Mahajan.
The caste factor has always played a key role in the constituency, especially when it comes to the poll prospects of Dr Kewal Krishan’s family. The family belongs to the Chang community, having over 40,000 voters. Whenever the family has won from this segment, this community has overwhelmingly voted for the family.
BJP’s candidate Mahajan is from the Baniya community which has its base in the Mukerian town, the only urban area of the segment. Besides, the constituency has over 60,000 Rajput and around 30,000 Sikh voters.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which polled around 17,000 votes in 2017 assembly polls, has fielded Gurdhian Singh Multani from this seat.