On February 14, Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the ruling Congress party and promised a 'drug-free' Punjab at a rally in Jalandhar in the run-up to the state polls.
The Jalandhar rally was PM Modi's first in poll-bound Punjab since the repeal of farm laws in November. His first scheduled rally in the border state on January 5 was cancelled after his convoy got stuck on a flyover on the Moga-Ferozepur highway due to road blockade by farmers protesting against the visit.
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“If given a chance, I want to dedicate the next five years to building the Nava Punjab which will be free of debt, corruption, and drugs," the prime minister said.
Jalandhar, comprising nine Assembly seats, is the biggest city of Doaba – one of the three regions of Punjab – and its political significance lies primarily due to its cash-rich Non Resident Indians (NRIs) and Dalit politics. Four of the nine Assembly constituencies in the district are reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates.
In the 2017 elections, the Congress clinched a landslide victory by bagging 77 of the 117 seats in Punjab. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) emerged as the principle opposition party by winning 20 seats. SAD won 15 seats and the BJP won three. This time, however, a resurgent AAP and an ambitious BJP, contesting all seats for the first time in the last 24 years, have altered the poll dynamics, according to observers.
The state is going to polls in a single phase on February 20.
A Congress stronghold making strides
Traditionally, Jalandhar has been a Congress stronghold, but it started making strides since 1997. In 2007, the erstwhile alliance of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won nine out of 10 seats in the district before delimitation. In 2012, after delimitation, the SAD-BJP alliance that came to power, had won all nine seats in the district.
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In 2017, when SAD finished at third place with 15 seats after 20 seats of the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP), four seats – Shahkot, Nakodar, Phillaur (SC) and Adampur (SC) – had come from Jalandhar.the 2018 bypolls, however, SAD lost Shahkot, one of the seats it won in 2017, to the Congress. SAD is contesting elections in alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), this time.
The AAP has its own challenges in the region. Of the nine candidates that it fielded here in2017, only two of remain active members. Four others have moved to the SAD and another to the Lok Insaaf Party. The others shunned active politics. The party could not won any of the seats in the district in 2017
Dalit votes
Like other areas of Doaba region, Jalandhar assumes significance because of the Dalit votes, at least in four of the nine seats that are reserved. The Scheduled Castes (SCs) form around 32 per cent of Punjab’s population, the highest in the country, according to the 2011 census and Doaba has the highest percentage of Dalits (37.4) among the three regions of Punjab making it epicentre of Dalit politics.
No wonder then, SAD, which broke its alliance with BJP, has, in this election, tied up with Mayawati’s BSP, known for its support among Dalits.
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For the Congress party, Charanjit Singh Channi has become the state’s first Scheduled Caste chief . In 2017, the party had won five seats – Kartarpur (SC), Jalandhar West (SC), Jalandhar Central, Jalandhar North and Jalandhar Cantonment – from the district, Later, it wrested the sixth, Shahkot from the SAD-BJP alliance in 2018 by polls. Channi is said to have increased his focus on the district’s reserved seats.
Focus on urban seats
The BJP, contesting the February 20 polls in alliance with Captain Amarinder Singh’s Punjab Lok Congress and SAD (S), is considered to be a strong contender in Jalandhar’s urban seats — Jalandhar Central, Jalandhar North and Jalandhar.
From Jalandhar Central, three-time MLA Manoranjan Kalia is the BJP candidate. This time he is up against Rajinder Beri of the Congress, who won in 2017, and Raman Arora of the AAP.
Similarly, from Jalandhar North, two-time legislator KD Bhandhari is again pitted as BJP candidate against Congress’ Avtar Henry Junior. Bhandari lost to Henry in 2017. In Jalandhar West, three-time MLA and former minister Bhagat Chuni Lal’s son, Mahinder Pal Bhagat, who lost to Congress candidate Sushil Rinku in 2017, is again trying his luck from the seat dominated by the Ravidassia, Valmiki and Bhagat communities.
All three BJP candidates from these urban seats had lost in 2017 polls.
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Here are Jalandhar’s nine assembly seats and prominent candidates :
Phillaur (SC)
Total Voters: 2.03 lakh
Phillaur is a predominantly rural seat which has been a SAD stronghold since 2007. MLA Baldev Singh Kaira (SAD) is contesting against Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary of the Congress and Prem Kumar of the AAP.
Kartarpur (SC)
Total voters: 1.77 lakh
Kartarpur is a rural seat where sitting MLA Chaudhary Surinder Singh of the Congress is contesting against DCP Balkar Singh of the AAP and Balwinder Kumar of BSP
Jalandhar West (SC)
Total voters: 1.64 lakh
In Jalandhar West seat, dominated by the Ravidassia, Valmiki and Bhagat communities, sitting Congress MLA Sushil Kumar Rinku is contesting against Sheetal Angural of the AAP and Anil Kumar Meenia of the BSP
Adampur (SC)
Total voters: 1.63 lakh
In Adampur, a rural constituency, Sukhwinder Singh Kotli of the Congress is up against sitting MLA Pawan Kumar of SAD and Jeet Lal Bhaati of the AAP.
Nakodar
Total Voters: 1.90 lakh
MLA Gurpartap Wadala of SAD is up against Navjot Singh of the Congress and Inderjit Mann of AAP in the rural seat of Nakodar which was captured from Congress by SAD in 2012.
Shahkot
Total Voters: 1.77 lakh
This rural seat, Shahkot used to be a SAD stronghold till 2018 bypoll when Congress won it.
Congress MLA Hardev Singh Laddi is up against late minister Ajit Singh Kohar’s grandson, Bachhitar Singh Kohar of SAD and Rattan Singh Kakkar of AAP
Jalandhar Central
Total voters: 1.66 lakh
Rajinder Beri of the Congress is up against Raman Arora of AAP and Chandan Grewal of SAD from this urban seat of Jalandhar Central
Jalandhar North
Total voters: 1.84 lakh
Jalandar North covers most of the Jalandhar’s industrial area. Former MLA KD Bhandhari is again pitted as BJP candidate against Congress’ Avtar Henry Junior and AAP’s Dinesh Dhall, a former Congress leader.
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Jalandhar Cant
Total voters: 1.86 lakh
The AAP has fielded former hockey Olympian Surinder Singh Sodhi from Jalandhar Cantonment while the SAD has nominated Jagbir Singh Brar against Pargat Singh of the Congress, who won this urban seat in 2017.
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