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Gupta says good-bye
to Maharaja
First-timers giving tough time to oldies |
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Gupta says good-bye
to Maharaja Jalandhar, February 3 Mr Gupta was associated with the Congress for about 55 years. He said he felt “humiliated” and was “subjected to injustice” when he was denied the party ticket from the Jalandhar (Central) constituency. He alleged “heavy influence of big money” was behind the denial of nomination to him. Mr Pawan Gupta, son of Mr Gupta and an area councillor, also joined the BJP. Mr Gupta is the first senior Congress leader to join the BJP in the state so far. The defection of Mr Gupta and his son is likely to mar the poll prospects of the Congress in a big way since Mr Gupta has a large following in the ‘bania’ community. Banias number about 28,000 out of a total of about 1.36 lakh votes in the constituency. They have been annoyed with the Congress for it refused the party ticket to their representative Mr Gupta despite his being a sitting MLA and also the DCC President. Considering the considerable personal influence commanded by Mr Gupta among voters of the constituency and going by the senior position held by him in the Congress, the BJP leadership thought it fit to invite its senior leader, Mr Arun Jaitley, to make a formal announcement about Mr Gupta’s coming to the BJP’s fold. “The BJP is going to have a big gain from the presence of Mr Gupta and his large number of supporters during the next 10 days. He will be one of our star campaigners in Punjab,” Mr Jaitley said. He was accompanied by senior BJP and SAD leaders, including Mr S.D. Chugh, district president, Mr Manoranjan Kalia, the BJP candidate from the Jalandhar (Central), Mr Rajat Mohinderu, Mr Baljeet Singh Neelamahl and Dr Daljeet Singh, secretary of the SAD. “Denial of the ticket is not a big issue in a party, but certainly injustice is. In fact, it was corruption in the party which edged me out of the Congress. Capt Amarinder Singh indulged in corruption and tickets were sold. I cannot say anything about the amount of money involved, but I believe that Mr Anil Dutta has said everything about it earlier. I am joining the BJP without any pre-conditions and will work for this corruption-free party for rest of my life,” Mr Gupta said. |
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First-timers giving tough time to oldies Jalandhar, February 3 Mr Avinash Chander, Mr Jagbir Brar, Mr Shital Vij, Mr Tejinder Bittu and Mr Anil Dutta are the main young candidates or the first- timers who have made it tough for their immediate rivals. Mr Chander, the SAD-BJP candidate from the Kartarpur constituency, has been pitted against Chaudhary Jagjit Singh, who has already made it to the Vidhan Sabha and created a record of sorts by turning out to be a winner four times in a row. He was considered to be a strong candidate so far. Mr Chander had constested as a BSP candidate in 2002 and fetched 10,158 votes as against 39,010 polled by Chaudhary Jagjit Singh of the Congress. However, this time he is posing a bigger challenge to Chaudhary Jagjit Singh, who has had a considerable following in the constituency. Mr Jagbir Brar, the SAD-BJP candidate from Jalandhar (Cantonment), is reportedly giving sleepless nights to the Congress candidate, Ms Gurkanwal Kaur, also a minister. Even as Mr Brar is considered to be a green horn in politics for his being a first-timer by many a political pundits, but his ground level toil in the area for two-three years is said to have turned as an asset for him. Mr Anil Dutta, a Congress dissident and now an Independent candidate from Jalandhar (Cantonment) has also been spoiling the calculation of the Congress poll managers in the constituency for his support base in the area. Interestingly, Mr Dutta had his base in the Congress, but he had said a good-bye to his parent party when he was denied the party ticket from the Jalandhar (Central) constituency at the eleventh hour by the party high command.
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‘Cong failed to fulfil promises’
Hoshiarpur, February 3 |
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The Congress suffered a big blow to its poll prospects when one of the oldest pillars of the party in Punjab, Mr Raj Kumar Gupta, District President and a sitting MLA, resigned to join the BJP here today.
