2 Hindu-dominated Assembly segments hold key in Bathinda

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Bathinda, April 5

Two Hindu-dominated urban assembly segments — Bathinda (urban) and Mansa — hold the key in the Bathinda Lok Sabha constituency in the polls. For the first time, the BJP is contesting from the Bathinda seat alone after its alliance talks with SAD failed.

The Akali Dal had gained due to the Modi wave in the last election. Even the Congress has its vote bank among Hindu traders in both these Assembly segments. In 2019 LS polls, SAD-BJP candidate Harsimrat Kaur Badal had got 63,558 votes, while Congress candidate Amrinder Singh Raja Warring got 59,815 from Bathinda (urban) seat. In the Mansa Assembly segment, Harsimrat had polled 56,240 votes and the Congress candidate got 59,166 votes.

In 2014 LS polls, Harsimrat won by a thin margin of around 19,000 votes from Bathinda, but she trailed behind the Congress candidate by around 29,500 votes and 21,000 votes in Bathinda (urban) and Mansa Assembly segments, respectively.

Similarly, in 2022 Assembly poll, AAP candidates polled the maximum votes from these constituencies as AAP candidate from Mansa Vijay Singla polled 1,00,023 votes, the highest by any candidate in the state, while party candidate from Bathinda (urban) Jagroop Singh Gill won by a margin of 63,581 votes. But with the BJP going solo in LS poll this time, it will be interesting to see which party will be able to keep its vote bank intact here. The BJP had gone solo in the Assembly polls in 2022 as well, but at that time there was a strong AAP wave.

AAP has already announced Cabinet minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian as its candidate from here. Khuddian had defeated five times CM Parkash Singh Badal from Lambi assembly segment. Harsimrat is likely to recontest from here for the fourth time as she has already started holding public meetings, while the Congress is yet to announce its candidate. But Warring and his wife Amrita are active in the constituency here and are holding public meetings.

For the BJP, former Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal was the front runner for the ticket from here, but he recently has undergone a heart ailment treatment, so on medical grounds he might not contest. Former MLA Jagdeep Singh Nakai and Sarup Chand Singla are the other contenders.