Gurdaspur, April 4: Congress and BJP are in a direct fight in the parliamentary constituency of Gurdaspur. AAP has been lying low and SAD (Taksali) is still trying to find its feet in the political arena.
Congress has cleared the name of sitting MP Sunil Jakhar, while the BJP is in a flux over its nominee with the pendulum swinging between Kavita Khanna and Akshaye Khanna, wife and son of former MP Vinod Khanna.
While Jakhar has started campaigning, the BJP, too, has started holding workers’ meetings. Its alliance partner SAD has commenced poll-related activities with party president Sukhbir Singh Badal trying to mobilise workers in Babbehali village on Sunday.
A wave was building up for AAP in 2014 following which its then president Sucha Singh Chottepur contested the Lok Sabha poll. However, he failed to do make a mark following which the party went on a downward spiral. In the 2017 Assembly elections, the party fielded candidates in all nine seats of this constituency but none of them, barring Gurpreet Singh Ghuggi, managed to get more than 8,000 votes. If AAP has been lying low, the Taksali leaders, too, have nothing to show as of now. It is only in the Qadian seat where Sewa Singh Sekhwan, a founder leader of the Taksali party, wields some clout.
“However, this may not be enough to change the overall result of the constituency. Sekhwan was once a powerful regional satrap because his parent party SAD was strong. He has now formed his own party which is yet to gather steam. For both the Congress and the BJP, he remains a no-show,” said a senior Congress man.
