Poll din ends, stakes high for Cong, AAP

The campaigning for the byelections to the four Assembly segments of Gidderbaha, Barnala, Dera Baba Nanak and Chabbewal came to close on Monday. The bypoll results will set the tone for the 2027 Assembly elections.

While the stakes are high for PPCC chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and Gurdaspur MP and senior Congress leader Sukhjinder Randhawa, the results will also decide on who calls the shots in AAP. For the BJP, the bypoll will establish whether it emerges as the “third force” in the state or not.

Incidentally, the absence of the SAD from the poll scene this time will also tell about the preference of Sikh radical voters. In a strategic decision, the BJP has fielded three former Akali leaders from Gidderbaha (Manpreet Badal), Dera Baba Nanak (Ravi Kahlon) and Chabbewal (Sohan Singh Thandal).

As reports trickle in from the four Assembly segments, the Gidderbaha contest appears to be a triangular one among Congress candidate Amrita Warring, AAP nominee and former Akali leader Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon and BJP’s Manpreet Badal. Political analyst said the candidate who gets maximum Akali votes might emerge as the winner. In Barnala, AAP rebel Gurdeep Singh Batth threatens to derail the prospects of party candidate Harinder Singh Dhaliwal, giving a possible edge to Congress nominee Kuldeep Singh Dhillon.

At Dera Baba Nanak, Congress candidate Jatinder Kaur, wife of Sukhjinder Randahwa, is facing a tough challenge from AAP’s Gurdeep Singh Randhawa, who is getting support from Akali leader Sucha Singh Langah. A Congress bastion, Dera Baba Nanak has in the past seen a direct contest between the Congress and the SAD. With the SAD missing from the scene this time, AAP could upset the Congress apple cart.

In the reserved Chabbewal seat, AAP candidate Ishank Chabbewal, who is son of Hoshiarpur MP Raj Kumar Chabbewal, has a clear advantage over Congress nominee Ranjit Kumar, a former BSP leader, and BJP candidate Sohan Singh Thandal, a former Akali leader.

Cong roadshow in Dera Baba Nanak

Congress candidate Jatinder Kaur took out a motorcycle-cum-car roadshow today in what appeared to be a show of strength on the last day of the campaigning.

The event started near the Kartarpur corridor and ended at Kalanaur, 10 km away, after meandering through villages.

AAP candidate Gurdeep Singh Randhawa had also planned a similar roadshow. However, things fizzled out when somebody pointed out that the party did not have the requisite permission to hold such an event.