Trashing reports of rift, Som Parkash joins Phagwara candidate Vijay Sampla in filing papers

Jalandhar, January 31

The BJP put forth a united front during the filing of nominations by its Phagwara candidate Vijay Sampla, ex-Union Minister and chairman, National Commission for Scheduled Castes, on Monday.

Union Minister Som Parkash and BJP national general secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam accompanied Sampla during the filing of papers. Som Parkash was also Sampla’s proposer. BJP candidate for the 2019 Phagwara bypoll and state vice-president Rajesh Bagha also accompanied Sampla.

Ticket given on merit only

BJP is an inclusive party where there is no control of any particular family and the ticket is distributed to candidates who have the ideological commitment to the welfare of the nation. —Hardeep Singh Puri, Union minister

Notably, the Phagwara SC seat has been a witness to intense factionalism within the BJP with the seat contended by both Sampla and Parkash’s families for long. Deemed political rivals, the duo had previous run-ins over seats. While Som Parkash had been seeking a ticket for his wife Anita Parkash for the Phagwara seat this time, she had been campaigning for long. From organising langars during the Covid lockdown, to holding workers and residents’ meets in the run-up to the 2022 elections, Anita has done it all. The BJP, however, placed its bets on Sampla this time.

“I am wholeheartedly supporting our party candidate from Phagwara. As far as the reports of me being more active elsewhere is concerned, these are just concocted stories,” said Som Parkash. In the 2019 Phagwara bypoll too, Som Parkash wanted to field his wife while Sampla had sought the seat for his son Sahil Sampla. The BJP had then chosen Rajesh Bagha as the candidate.

Another seat that witnessed a tussle between two senior leaders was Hoshiarpur in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections for which Som Parkash was chosen as a candidate to the displeasure of Sampla, who took to Twitter to term it ‘cow slaughter’.

However, ironing out differences, the duo put up a joint front on Monday. The Phagwara seat has been with the BJP for the past three consecutive terms until the 2019 byelection. In 2012 and 2017, the seat was won by Som Parkash. — TNS