Punjab lawmakers: Charting new course their common goal
Deepkamal Kaur & Karam Prakash
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar/Patiala, March 14
One having given up his US citizenship to contest the Assembly poll and the other riding a bicycle even after emerging victorious, the new Punjab House is a mix of affluent and ‘aam aadmi’ debutants.
Living up to his party’s “common man’s image”, AAP legislator from Nabha Gurdev Singh Mann was seen riding his ordinary bicycle in his constituency a day after he won. “My bicycle is my identity. I don’t need fancy cars,” says Mann, one of AAP’s giant slayers in Malwa belt whose father still fixes punctures.
He beat Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, a five-time MLA and former Congress minister, by a massive margin of 52,371 votes. Mann claims Dharamsot would make fun of his bicycle during electioneering. “Here’s the ‘cycle man’ now — ready to serve Nabha,” he remarks, calling his win part of the “revolution” that had swept Punjab. Dharamsot finished third with 18,251 votes and even lost his deposit.
Mann, who has studied till Class XII, says he would keep his promises of drawing a token Re 1 salary and not keeping any guards. Hailing from Fatehpur Rajputan village in Sanaur (Patiala), he is a ‘bard’ (singer) by profession, as per his poll affidavit.
Rana Inder Partap Singh, Independent MLA from Sultanpur Lodhi, too stands out among the new legislators as he gave up his US citizenship to be eligible for the contest.
The son of former influential Congress minister Rana Gurjeet Singh, he remained a US citizen for 20 years and gave it up as he wanted to “serve his people”. “I went to the US in 1999. After completing my studies in 2004, I returned to India,” says Rana Junior, victorious in his maiden election.
Forgoing US citizenship was a small decision, says Inder Partap, MD of Rana Sugars, who has businesses in UP and Uttarakhand. He owns assets worth Rs 69 crore. Having defeated AAP’s Sajjan Singh Cheema by 11,434 votes, he is the fourth member from his family to become a legislator.
