AAP fields halqa in-charge Gurdeep Randhawa from Dera Baba Nanak
The AAP has decided to stick to its halqa in-charge, Gurdeep Singh Randhawa, as its candidate from the Dera Baba Nanak Assembly seat.
In the 2022 elections, despite an AAP wave sweeping Punjab, he had fared poorly and ended up with the wooden spoon by bagging 31,742 votes as Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa of the Congress had won by bagging 52,555 votes while Ravi Karan Kahlon of the SAD stood second by garnering 52,089 votes.
There were apprehensions that the party would give the ticket to some local leader. There were many aspirants but what tilted the scales in favour of Gurdeep was the fact that he remained the halqa in-charge for the more than two years and removing him at this stage would send a wrong message to the cadre. He is the senior vice-chairman of the Punjab Industries Development Board.
It is an open secret in Dera Baba Nanak that despite losing, Gurdeep wielded more clout than the elected MLA. “Civil and police officers were at his beck and call. No decision pertaining to the area would be taken in Chandigarh without consulting him. He lost the election but was bestowed upon with the powers of an MLA by his party. The postings and transfers of officers in Dera Baba Nanak were carried out by Gurdeep,” said a senior Congress leader.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, which was won by Sukhjinder Randhawa, the AAP trailed the Congress by 4,600 votes in the Dera Baba Nanak Assembly seat. This was, yet again, considered to be a setback to Gurdeep and there was even talk of sacking him as the halqa in-charge.
His father, Harbans Singh, was considered close to Sukhjinder’s father and ex-PPCC Chief Santokh Singh Randhawa. He was an ardent follower of Sukhjinder before the two fell out with each other after the latter denied him the ticket for the election to the post of village headman a few years ago.
“The area is facing a plethora of problems. I am aware of all of them. The first thing I would do after being elected as an MLA is to improve the condition of link roads and improve the water supply facilities in villages,” said Gurdeep.
