Hindustan Times (Jalandhar)

Punjabi film stars add glitz to Karamjit Anmol’s election campaign

- Vishal Joshi vishal.joshi@htlive.com

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates from Bathinda and Faridkot Lok Sabha constituen­cies are leaving no stone unturned to woo voters, bringing in everyone from celebritie­s to family members and even friends to canvass for them.

In Faridkot, where the AAP has fielded comedy artist Karamjit Anmol, it has been raining celebritie­s for the last few days. On Tuesday, film actor Sonia Mann toured several places in the Jaito area, asking for votes for Anmol.

At a public rally at Bajakhana, she said ‘Anmol bhaji’ had taken the political plunge despite being at the peak of his career, just to serve the people.

“Anmol has joined electoral politics to work for the masses. He has no dearth of money or fame. Unlike several politician­s, he has not entered the poll arena to protect any of his business interests,” she said. On Monday, Anmol’s co-actor in several films and an old pal Binnu Dhillon had spent the entire day in Rampura Phul constituen­cy. They were accompanie­d by fellow artiste and AAP MLA from Rampura Phul Balkar Sidhu.

Addressing election meetings, Dhillon termed Anmol a “downto-earth person” who wants to contribute to the community.

“Anmol always stands by his word; he deserves to be elected to power as he is honest, committed to public work and understand­s the issues of a common man,” said Dhillon.

Manjit Sidhu, who is coordinati­ng Anmol’s campaign, said that more actors will be joining canvassing in the coming days.

In his speeches, Anmol, an electoral novice, targets Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The Centre has pushed policies that hurt the interests of farmers and Punjabis. The time has come to unseat Modi as the PM to protect the democratic ethos of India. If the BJP is defeated, AAP will get a chance to serve in the Union government which means more developmen­t funds for Punjab,” Anmol said.

Khudian relies on kin to handle his campaign

AAP’s Bathinda candidate Gurmeet Khudian is relying largely on his family members, including his sons and a nephew, to handle his campaign.

Khudian, who represents Lambi assembly seat and has agricultur­e portfolio in the Mann government, addresses 12 to 14 election rallies daily. His elder son Ameet Singh Teema is a law graduate from Delhi University and has served as the national secretary of the National Students Union of India, a student body of the Congress, the younger son, Sumeet, has no previous experience in politics. His nephew Randhir Singh Dhira Khudian, however, has a rich grassroots-level experience, having served the Congress for nearly three decades. He was the general secretary of the PPCC until 2020 when he quit the party.

 ?? SOURCED ?? Actor Binnu Dhillon (centre) campaignin­g for AAP candidate Karamjit Anmol (blue turban) at Rampura Phul.
SOURCED Actor Binnu Dhillon (centre) campaignin­g for AAP candidate Karamjit Anmol (blue turban) at Rampura Phul.

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