Sikh candidates sporting turbans, growing beards

Chandigarh Feb 7: Candidates of a number of political parties, who till now were recognised by their short hair and beards,have started wearing turbans and grown their beard.

Congress candidate and Industrialist Kewal Dhillon, who is contesting from Barnala, is canvassing in his constituency sporting a turban. Prior to the announcement of the polls, he was normally seen without a turban, as he has short hair. On hoardings and posters put up in Barnala, Dhillon can be seen sporting a turban.

Harminder Singh Jassi, who is contesting on a Congress ticket from Bhatinda, is another politician who has started wearing a turban. Jassi addresses rallies sporting colourful turbans, to woo Sikh voters.

Even Congress MLA from Beas, Jasbir Singh Dimpa, who has been booked in a criminal case after an Akali supporter was killed in a clash between Congress and SAD supporters, has started sporting a turban whenever he has to address a public meeting. Posters of a turbaned Dimpa dot the Beas constituency.

Randeep Singh,who is contesting from Nabha on a Congress ticket and Jasbir Singh Khangura, Congress candidate from Qila Raipur have also taken to sporting turbans in the campaign.

Then there are candidates who have started growing beards. The most prominent politician in this category is Bikramjit Singh Majithia who is contesting on the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) ticket from the prestigious Majitha constituency. Bikramjit is the brother-in-law of SAD general secretary and MP, Sukhbir Singh Badal.

In fact it is a convention in the SAD that if a party candidate is a Sikh, then he must have long hair and must not cut his beard short. There is no such rule for Hindu or Muslim candidates contesting on a SAD ticket, though at times during election rallies they too have started sporting the saffron or blue turban, a hallmark of the Akalis.

Politicians have also started adding the names of their villages and constitutencies with their names.

While some politicians like SAD chief Prakash Singh Badal are already known from the name of their village, there are others who have added the name of their village at the end of their name. The SAD supremo hails from Badal village.

Sukhjinder Raj Singh the Congress candidate from Majitha has added the name of his village at the end of his name.Prior to the announcement of polls, Sukhjinder Singh was popularly known as'Lally'among friends and relatives. Likewise his rival Bikramjit Singh has also added the name of his village at the end of his name.

The election results alone will reveal whether long beards or turban have fetched them votes.

UNI