J A L A N D H A R    E D I T I O N

Battlelines drawn on all four seats in Kapurthala
Kapurthala, January 7
With the release of first list of Congress candidates, battlelines have been drawn for all four seats of Kapurthala district.

Women voters outnumber men in Bholath
Bholath, January 7
Amid alarmingly skewed sex ratio in Punjab, the Bholath Assembly segment falling in the Kapurthala district is a pleasant exception. It has significantly more women electors compared to men.

Greenhorns to take on big shots in Jalandhar (West), Kartarpur
Jalandhar, January 7
With the Congress releasing its first list of candidates, it is all set to be a fierce battle between candidates in both Jalandhar (West) and Kartarpur Assembly constituencies.

Friends turn foe in Sultanpur Lodhi
Sultanpur Lodhi, January 7
Nobody knows when friends turn foes in politics. This saying fits on Finance Minister Dr Upinderjit Kaur and her old confidant Jaimal Singh. Both are facing each other in the Sultanpur Lodhi Assembly segment.

Battlelines drawn on all four seats in Kapurthala
Dharmendra Joshi
Tribune News Service

Kapurthala, January 7
With the release of first list of Congress candidates, battlelines have been drawn for all four seats of Kapurthala district.

Though several others candidates are trying their luck, direct contest is expected between arch rivals - former SGPC chief Bibi Jagir Kaur, SAD Akali candidate and Congress candidate Sukhpal Khaira - in Bholath. They are facing each other for the fourth time in a row. While Bibi Jagir Kaur emerged victorious in 1997 and 2002, Khaira managed to break the Akali bastion during previous elections in 2007.

Similarly, direct contest is likely between BJP candidate Som Prakash and Congress candidate Balbir Raja Sodhi. They are trying their luck for the first time on the Phagwara seat. Both the prominent political parties Congress and BJP have preferred to allocate tickets to new faces. Former minister Swarna Ram won elections from this seat on BJP ticket in 2007, whereas former minister Joginder Singh Mann emerged victorious on Congress ticket in 2002. Both Swarna Ram and Mann are unhappy with their parties on ignoring them while allocating tickets. Both of them may create problems for the candidates of their respective political parties.

Dr Upinderjit Kaur, SAD candidate, Navtej Singh Cheema of Congress and old confidant of Akali candidate Jaimal Singh (PPP) are trying their luck from the Sultanpur Lodhi seat. Dr Upinderjit has already made a hat-trick from this seat, whereas Cheema lost to her in 2007.

In the same way, triangular contest is expected between former MP Rana Gurjit Singh (Congress), Adampur MLA Sarabjit Singh Makkar (Akali Dal) and former minister Raghbir Singh (PPP) on Kapurthala seat. 

Women voters outnumber men in Bholath
Dharmendra Joshi
Tribune News Service

Bholath, January 7
Amid alarmingly skewed sex ratio in Punjab, the Bholath Assembly segment falling in the Kapurthala district is a pleasant exception. It has significantly more women electors compared to men.

Bholath is probably the only constituency in Punjab which has over 1 per cent more women voters than men. Official data reveals that Bholath has 576 more women voters than men. Out of the 1,15,194 voters, 57,885 women and 57,309 are men.

The three other Assembly constituencies of the Kapurthala district, including Phagwara (males 78,903, females 71,226), Sultanpur Lodhi (males 63776, females 57447) and Kapurthala (males 61326, females 57,550) have more male voters as compared to females. The entire Kapurthala district has 17,205 more male voters (2,61,313) than the female voters (2,44,108).

A local SAD leader close to Akali candidate Bibi Jagir Kaur said: “A large number of men have migrated abroad for greener pastures from this region and their names have been deleted from electoral rolls from time to time. Secondly, people here are aware and do not indulge in female foeticide.”

A local Congress leader close Sukhpal Singh Khaira said migration of men is the only reason for more women voters here. Saying that the trend of going to foreign countries for greener pastures is more prevalent as compared to other parts of Punjab, especially the Doaba region, they say even the global recession had not put a stop to the migration of men abroad. 

Greenhorns to take on big shots in Jalandhar (West), Kartarpur
Aparna Banerji
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, January 7
With the Congress releasing its first list of candidates, it is all set to be a fierce battle between candidates in both Jalandhar (West) and Kartarpur Assembly constituencies.

While the BJP has fielded Chunni Lal Bhagat, the Congress has declared Suman Kaypee, wife of Jalndhar MP Mohinder Singh Kaypee, as its candidate from the constituency. While Kaypee had dodged questions regarding the issue for a long time, declaration of Suman Kaypee as the candidate from the constituency is all set to make the battle interesting this time. Bhagat Chunni Lal has contested from the constituency several times whereas Suman Kaypee is a first-timer.

Being denied their respective party tickets, BJP leader Vijay Sampla and former Congress councillor Sushil Rinku may create problems for their respective party candidates.

In Kartarpur, too, a direct contest is expected between senior Congress leader Chaudhary Jagjit Singh and Akali candidate Sarwan Singh Phillaur. While Chaudhary Jagjit Singh is contesting for the seventh time in a row, Sarwan is trying his luck for the first time from this constituency.

Chaudhary Jagjit Singh has emerged victorious for the past five times in the same constituency, but he lost to Akali candidate Avinash Chander last time.

However, the Akali leadership preferred to swap its candidates Avinash Chander with Sarwan Singh Phillaur, who won from Phillaur in 2007. Their seats were reportedly swapped owing to ire among Akali workers regarding their performance in their respective constituencies. 

Friends turn foe in Sultanpur Lodhi
Old confidant trying his luck against Upinderjit Kaur
Dharmendra Joshi
Tribune News Service

Sultanpur Lodhi, January 7
Nobody knows when friends turn foes in politics. This saying fits on Finance Minister Dr Upinderjit Kaur and her old confidant Jaimal Singh. Both are facing each other in the Sultanpur Lodhi Assembly segment.

Having already won three consecutive elections from this traditionally Akali bastion of Sultanpur Lodhi, Dr Upinderjit Kaur is facing her old confidant Jaimal Singh this time.

A former Sultanpur Lodhi Municipal Council chief, Jaimal Singh, is contesting on former Finance Minister Manpreet Badal’s Peoples’ Party of Punjab (PPP) ticket.

Interestingly Jaimal was not only Dr Upinderjit Kaur’s confidant, but he had also actively participated in campaigning for her late father Atma Singh.

The three-time MC president, Jaimal Singh, along with his councillor son Gurpreet Singh Raja and their supporters had joined PPP about four months ago. Though Jaimal claimed he had joined PPP as Manpreet promised to provide corruption free government, yet sources said he had left SAD after remaining there for over five decades due to some political differences with Dr. Upinderjit Kaur.

Jaimal Singh said “He also remained in prison alongwith senior leaders Parkash Singh Badal, Jagdev Singh Talwandi and Lachman Singh Gill during Punjabi Suba morcha in Hisar jail in 1960.”

While Akali leaders close to Dr Upinderjit Kaur claimed Jaimal Singh’s contesting elections will have no affect on her prospects, Jaimal Singh said “He is fighting elections to win and has already visited all the 235 villages falling under this constituency.”

Trying her luck for the fourth time, Dr Upinderjit Kaur had made a hat-trick of in 2007. She defeated her nearest Congress rival Navtej Singh Cheema by a margin of 11,045 votes at that time. Earlier, she had defeated Rajanbir Singh (Congress) by a margin of 21926 and 5514 votes in 1997 and 2002 respectively from this seat.