In Gurdaspur, stakes high for BJP, Akali candidates

Ravi Dhaliwal

Gurdaspur, June 3

As the results will be out tomorrow, Daljit Singh Cheema (SAD) and Dinesh Singh Babbu (BJP) will find themselves in a must-win situation as their political careers are at stake but the defeat for Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa (Congress) and Amansher Singh Sherry Kalsi (AAP) will not hurt them much as they enjoy the cushion of being the sitting legislators.

The win for either four-time MLA Randhawa or first-timer Kalsi will trigger a bypoll in Dera Baba Nanak and Batala.

In that case, Randhawa’s son Udayveer Singh is the likely contender. So strong has been Sukhjinder’s influence in his Vidhan Sabha seat that no Congress man can match his stature.

In Dera Baba Nanak, former SAD leader Ravi Karan Kahlon is a contender from the BJP but is seen as a weak challenger. The BJP has a marginal presence in Dera Baba Nanak. For AAP, halqa in-charge Gurdeep Singh Randhawa, who lost the 2022 elections to Sukhjinder, is likely to be the party candidate. SAD has nothing to show in Dera Baba Nanak after Ravi’s exit.

In Batala, Amandeep Singh Jyantipuria (34) is seen ‘first among equals’ as far as getting the Congress ticket is concerned. He is a social worker and help poor students. He also gives jobs to drug addicts, who prove that they have left it. “When the time comes for ticket distribution, Randhawa is sure to back him,” said an ex-Cabinet minister.

Amrit Kalsi, brother of Sherry Kalsi, is in the reckoning for the AAP ticket. Naresh Mahajan, who has served as the president of the Batala Municipal Committee from 2015-20, ticks all right boxes when it comes to getting the SAD nomination. He is considered to be close to Sukhbir Badal and it was at his insistence that he left the BJP recently to join the SAD. Ex-Qadian MLA Fatehjung Bajwa and ex-president of the Batala Improvement Trust Suresh Bhatia will vie with each other for the BJP nomination.