Year before LS elections, Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher gets active

Sandeep Rana

Chandigarh, March 19

A year ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, MP Kirron Kher has gone active in the city.

However, she seems to be keeping a distance from the media. She did not respond to calls and text messages for her response to news stories. Sources said she was expected to leave for Delhi tomorrow morning to attend the Parliament session. In the past few days, she had attended eight events — Two public-interaction programmes and six inaugurations. After her controversial remark of “chittar” to residents of Deep Complex, Hallo Majra, drew criticism from the Opposition as well as the media, no public event was held.

On public-event spree

• March 12: Inaugurates laying of paver blocks and construction of “phirni” road at Dhanas and Khuda Ali Sher villages
• March 14: Flags off a hydraulic bus at GRIDD, Sector 31; attends the Women’s Day celebrations at the district courts complex and listens to the grievances of “arhtiyas” and “rehri-fadi” vendors at the grain market
• March 15: Inaugurates the Ram Darbar community centre and launches works of paver block laying and the “phirni” road at Kishangarh
• March 16: Opens the annual fest (Kaarvaan) at DAV College, Sec 10

Sources in the BJP said the actor-turned-politician was interested in contesting the LS poll from the city for the third straight time on BJP ticket. Though there were many contenders for ticket, including present city party president Arun Sood, former president Sanjay Tandon, former MP Satya Pal Jain and Chandigarh University Chancellor Satnam Singh Sandhu.

Kirron won the local Lok Sabha seat for the second term in May, 2019, by defeating Congress candidate Pawan Kumar Bansal. But after a while, she had remained away from the political limelight for nearly two years due to illness.

The MP was conspicuous by her absence during the Covid-19 times in the city and faced criticism. She later disclosed that she was undergoing treatment for multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, in Mumbai, due to which she had remained away from the city for a long time.

She returned to the city in December, 2021, ahead of the MC elections, but was not very active except taking part in a few major inaugural events.

Meanwhile, Congress president HS Lucky said, “It is the impact of the city Congress highlighting public issues that has made the MP move out of her house. However, it is not going to make any difference now. All contenders in the BJP are holding their own events and it is just a rat race among them when the election is around the corner.”

Senior AAP leader Pardeep Chhabra alleged, “No demand of dwellers of CHB societies, industry and others have been met. Instead, rates of water, power, parking lots and other services are on the rise.”