Punjab: Left presence, dissidents makes contest keen

Moga, Feb 6: With both the Akalis and Congress going all out to woo the voters, the Left-parties geared up to give a tough fight and dissidents playing spoilsport, the district is all set to witness a keen contest in the February 13 Assembly polls.

In Moga town, the two-time SAD-BJP alliance partner and former education minister Tota Singh is facing sitting Nagar council president newcomer Joginder Pal Jain.

While Mr Singh is wooing voters with talks of development works during SAD-BJP regime, including the secretariat and sports complex, Mr Jain, too, is equally vocal about development works carried out during his tenure under various government schemes like Nirmal programme and road improvement.

The biggest drawback to Joginder Pal Jain is the disgruntled local Congress stalwarts, including Vijay Kumar Sethi former MLA, former district Congress president Ranvir Singh Pappu , former minister Dr Malti Thapar and their supporters who have so far not joined the campaign.

United Front candidate Randhir Singh Gill backed by the Left parties and trade union activists is also creating serious trouble for the Congress.

In Nihalsinghwala, Independent Ajit Singh Shant, a rebel Congress leader, is giving sleepless nights to both the main rivals-- the SAD candidate Jarnail Singh and Colonal Bapu Singh of the Congress, who are first timers and considered a weak challenge.

In Dharamkot, there is a direct fight between Congress candidate former MP Kewal Singh and Setal Singh, two-time SAD MLA. The Akalis have been victorious in Dharamkot for four times while Congress has won the seat only once.

In Baghapurana, former minister Darshan Singh Brar of the Congress is facing a stiff challenge from two-time SAD candidate Sadhu Singh.

UNI