Parties step up campaign to woo SC voters in Chabbewal

As the date of voting for the Chabbewal (SC) Assembly segment byelection draws close, all parties in the fray have stepped up their efforts to woo the electorate. The parties are eyeing SC votes, about 47%, in particular.

Top state leaders of AAP, Congress and BJP have been holding rallies in the segment. Chief Miniser Bhagwant Mann visited the area a couple of times. Even former Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal addressed an election rally for party candidate Ishank Kumar.

Till the 2022 Assembly elections, the Congress had Raj Kumar as his biggest SC face in Doaba. He has been the chairman of the SC wing of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee for several years. The party suffered a setback when Raj Kumar switched to AAP during the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year and was elected as MP from Hoshiarpur on the party ticket. He is now campaigning for his son and AAP candidate Ishank.

Meanwhile, Cabinet minister Dr Ravjot, who’s an MLA from a SC reserve constituency (Sham Chaurasi) himself, is also actively canvassing for Ishank.

The Congress’ camp has seen repeated visits of LoP Pratap Singh Bajwa and the party’s byelection incharge Rana Gurjit. Now, former CM and MP Charanjit Channi is in the field to woo SC voters. On Tuesday, he addressed three poll rallies in the area, seeking votes for party candidate Ranjit Kumar, and is likely to address three more on November 14. Also, Channi inducted prominent Valmiki leader Mohan Lal Pehalwan back into the Congress. Pehalwan had been a Congress loyalist for over five decades and had left the party owing to some differences with some leaders in the district. His return is seen as a boost to the party campaign, considering the high SC voter base in Chabbewal.

The BJP, meanwhile, is relying on its leaders Shwet Malik, Vijay Sampla, Som Prakash, Sushil Rinku, Tikshan Sood, Avinash Rai Khanna for its election campaign. Sohan Singh Thandal is contesting the bypoll on the party ticket.