Congress in dilemma over Batala Assembly seat

Ravi Dhaliwal

Batala, January 17

The Batala Assembly seat has become the bone of contention among various stakeholders, with senior Congress leaders failing to arrive at a consensus on the name of its candidate.

In the past seven elections held since 1985, this seat was always the last one to be announced by the party. Interestingly, on all these seven occasions the final nod has always gone in favour of ex-MLA Ashwani Sekhri, considered to be the party’s most prominent Hindu face in Gurdaspur district. This time, too, he is in contention and his name was expected to be on the first list of 86 nominees. Observers term the seat as the Achilles’ heel of the Congress as every time it is with much difficulty that the party arrives at a consensus.

Cabinet Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa was eyeing the territory. However, once his name was finalised from his old constituency, Sekhri should have been an automatic choice. However, his detractors have ensured he will have to fight every inch if he has to be re-nominated for the eighth successive time.

Tripat’s son and Gurdaspur Zila Parishad Chairman, Ravi Nandan Bajwa, is also in the fray. In between this tug of war, the name of Rajinder Kumar Pappu Jaintipuria has cropped up. He was a close aide of Bikram Majithia before last month Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa pulled him to his side.

In fact, Randhawa had accompanied him to Chandigarh where he was made to join the party in the presence of CM Charanjit Singh Channi. It is believed the CM is strongly backing Jaintipuria at the insistence of a US-based NRI.

“Sekhri’s name was almost cleared but for the last minute push by the CM in favour of Jaintipuria,” said a leader engaged in distribution of tickets. Caste configurations have now come into play. A strong section of the leadership claims that like in the past, this time too Sekhri should be the candidate because “Batala is a predominantly a Hindu seat”.

On December 27, PCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu at a rally held in Batala had openly declared the candidature of Sekhri.

Tug of war: Many claimants

• Former legislator Ashwani Sekhri has represented Congress from Batala in the past seven Assembly elections. Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa’s son Ravi Nandan Bajwa is among the contenders for the seat this time
• In between this tug of war, the name of Rajinder Kumar Pappu Jaintipuria has cropped up. It is being believed the CM is strongly backing Jaintipuria, while PCC chief is favouring Sekhri