Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service
Clash of Badals
Bathinda, March 3
The Congress-PPP (People's Party of Punjab) pact for the Bathinda Lok Sabha seat can prove fruitful only if both parties poll the same number of votes as they did during the 2012 assembly elections.
If one goes by the votes polled by the PPP and the Congress in eight of the nine assembly segments of the Bathinda parliamentary seat, the move to field Manpreet is a smart one. The nine segments are Bathinda-Urban, Bathinda-Rural, Talwandi Sabo, Maur, Mansa, Sardulgarh, Budhlada, Bhucho and Lambi. If the two parties retain their vote bank in these segments, they could have a lead over the SAD in Bathinda-Urban (4,110 votes), in Bathinda-Rural (12,347 votes), in Maur (25,011 votes), in Mansa (29,182 votes) and in Budhlada (22,937 votes). But the SAD will win in Lambi by 19,387 votes. Lambi is represented by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
Manpreet has started closed-door meetings with heads of various communities in Mansa and Bathinda. He had lost the Maur assembly seat, securing 26,398 votes. The seat was won by SAD candidate Janmeja Singh Sekhon, who secured 45,349 votes. The Congress had got 43,962 votes. Gurpreet Maluka, Bathinda Zila Parishad Chairman and vice-president of the Youth Akali Dal, is unruffled by the statistics. “It is mere wishful thinking by the Congress and the PPP. Their vote bank has dwindled. The anti-incumbency votes, if any, will be divided between the Congrees-PPP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). This will benefit the SAD,” he contends.
Congress leaders of the region are a demoralised lot. They fear the Congress may suffer its worst-ever defeat in the constituency. This indicates that Manpreet may not get the support of the Congress cadre despite the high command's diktat. Manpreet, it appears, would have to bank on his own ability to convince voters to vote for him. Sitting MP Harsimrat Badal had won the seat in 2009 with a margin of 1.20 lakh votes over her nearest rival Raninder Singh of the Congress.
key words : Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Bathinda, Lok Sabha elections 2014, Manpreet Badal, voter statistics
link :http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140304/punjab.htm#3
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