Sidhu-Singla engage in war of words in Amritsar

Amritsar, Feb 4: Cricketer-turned politician and BJP candidate Navjot Singh Sidhu and his Congress rival and Punjab Finance Minister Surinder Singla are engaged in a war of words for the Amritsar Parliamentary by-election on Febuary 13.

The two have made personal attacks against each other and that has not gone down well with the educated section of the voters in this constituency.

The wordly duel even created an unsavoury situation during a debate between the two, which was to be telecast by a prominent television channel, at the commencement of the election campaign to the Amritsar Parliamentary seat and the 117 assembly seats which also go to the polls on the same day.

When the two candidates on stage pointed accusing fingers at each other, their supporters came to blows with each other, forcing the television channel to cancel the programme.

Though there are 10 candidates for the by-election, but the fight is restricted to Mr Sidhu and Mr Singla. The parliamentary constituency comprises nine assembly segements --Amritsar West, Amritsar Central, Amritsar South, Amritsar North, Majitha, Verka (reserved), Ajnala, Batala and Qadian-- and includes 6,29,793 women out of a total of 13,12,960 voters.

Though eight of the sitting MLAs from these assembly segments belong to the Congress and the ninth who won as an independent in the last Vidhan Sabha polls has been given the assembly ticket by the ruling party, the going is tough for the state Finance Minister.

Mr Sidhu had trounced Congress heavyweight and former Union Minister R L Bhatia by over one lakh votes in the last Lok Sabha polls, when he made his first foray into politics. Despite being an outsider, Mr Sidhu established his rapport with the electrorate and gave a commitment to the voters that he would remain in Amritsar and never visit his home town Patiala.

He kept his promise, brought a house in the city and gradually his popularity rose and today, despite his conviction by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on December 6 in a road rage case his popularity, particularly among the young voters has not diminished.

The Apex Court's verdict put new life into the party and the contest for the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat became exciting with the entry of Mr Sidhu, the star campaigner of the BJP in the the assembly polls in Punjab.

On the other hand, for Mr Singla this will be his first parliamentary poll, as in the past he had contested assembly elections. A sitting MLA from the Bathinda assembly seat, Mr Singla was chosen by the Congress high command, probably with an eye on the 48 per cent Hindu voters, who have in the past voted for the Congress.

The local Congress veterans however feel that the most formidable candidate against Mr Sidhu would have been Mr Bhatia, the current Kerala Governor who had lost to the former cricketer in the last Parliamentary polls.

Mr Bhatia had won from this seat on six occasions while his elder brother Durga Dass Bhatia had represented the constituency for 10 years.

The Congress also considered fielding cine star Rajesh Khanna, as the actor belongs to the holy city. But even his name too was dropped and Mr Singla was asked to take on Mr Sidhu, the popular television anchor whose flamboyant style of speaking has impressed many.

The Punjab Pradesh Congress even mooted the idea of fielding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, as Amritsar in his hometown. The state leaders were of the opinion that Dr Singh's entry would boost the chances of the party in the assembly elections but the Prime Minister shot down the proposal. At the start, the contest seemed one-sided, but with campaign picking-up, it has become close between the two rivals, with Mr Sidhu still having an edge. With the Shiromani Akali Dal solidly behind him, the former cricketer is strong in the rural areas particularly in the Ajnala, Majitha and Qadian assembly segments, where the SAD candidates have a clear edge in the assembly polls.

The Jat Sikh's from whom the Akalis draw their strength, seem to be impressed by Mr Sidhu, a member of their own clan.

On the other hand Mr Singla is concentrating on the Hindu voters of the city and is wooing the backward and Schedule Caste voters in the rural areas. He is hopeful that the Jat Sikh candidates of the party contesting the assembly elections will create a dent in Mr Sidhu and Akali bastions. Congressmen are relying heavily on the visit of the Prime Minister who will be addressing a rally here on February 5 followed by a visit of party chief Ms Sonia Gandhi.

Mr Sidhu's aggressive nature is quite evident in his style of campaigning as he moves from one village to another castigating the state government led by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. He minces no words in calling the Amarinder government, corrupt that had failed to live upto the aspirations of the Punjabis. He does not stop only at the Chief Minister but also hits out at the Prime Minister, calling him an economist who cannot control the rising prices of wheat and pulses.

While Mr Sidhu claims that the Prime Minister has done nothing for Punjab, Mr Singla is quick to retort that it was Dr Singh who had sanctioned the elevated road project to the Golden Temple, the holiest Sikh shrine.

The other achievements of Dr Singh include the starting of the Amritsar-Lahore and Amritsar-Nankana Sahib bus service that has enabled lakhs of Sikh pilgrims to pay obeisance at the shrines across the border, the Congress candidate reminds the electorate.

Former Union Minister Late Surjit Singh Majithia was the first Congress MP from Amritsar. Late Durga Dass Bhatia, also won seat and other his death in 1974, his younger brother R L Bhatia won his first election.

Mr Bhatia tasted defeat in 1977 in the Janata party wave, to lost to Dr Baldev Prakash of the Jan Sangh. However, in 1980, Mr Bhatia had his revenge as he defeated Dr Baldev Prakash and then went onto win the seat on four more occasions. Besides Dr Baldev Prakash, Mr Bhatia lost to Daya Singh Sodhi of the BJP, independent Kirpal Singh and in the last polls to Mr Sidhu.

The BJP is heavily relying on its ally SAD and its president Prakash Singh Badal to ensure Mr Sidhu's victory. Former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, BJP chief Rajnath Singh, Mrs Sushma Swaraj, Mr Arun Jaitely and a host of other leaders have already addressed rallies or will address meetings in the coming days in favour of Mr Sidhu. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee may also come the city in the last day of the campaign.

UNI