Lok Sabha polls are turning out to be bigger and stronger than the Patiala peg itself in the “royal” constituency of Punjab where a commoner for the second time is throwing a challenge to Her Majesty.
The fight between the bourgeois and the royalty had last time seen the victory of a cardiologist with voters exercising their franchise direct from their heart in his favour. This time, Dr Dharamvir Gandhi does not enjoy the sweeping power of a broom after biding adieu to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), but he is still being seen as a candidate strong enough to wrest the royal bastion once again.
The entire coterie of Punjab Chief Minister ‘Maharaja’ Capt Amarinder Singh is, on the other hand, backing the candidature of his wife ‘Maharani’ Preneet Kaur making the battle between the “unequals” equal.
Challenging them, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has fielded former State Minister Surjit Singh Rakhra, who emerged as an underdog to stun the Patiala Royals in 2012 state assembly polls by defeating Capt Amarinder and Preneet’s son, Raninder Singh, from Samana.
Even as the AAP has fielded an industrialist Neena Mittal, after its sitting MP Dr Gandhi parted ways, she has failed to make her presence felt and turn the Patiala battle into a four-way contest.
During the previous elections, Dr Gandhi emerged from a political non-entity to a Parliamentarian. At that time, his own credentials as a cardiologist, a social worker, and a listener to the grievances of others had gone in his favour.
His own charisma was coupled by the support of AAP on whose ticket he contested the previous elections. During his five-year tenure, Dr Gandhi did not leave his voters dissatisfied with the aggression he showed not only inside the Lower House of the Parliament, but everywhere by raising issues not only concerning his constituency but also of other people in the State.
Dr Gandhi has perhaps remained the same. The battle ground too remains unchanged, and so is his opponent. But the forces, he was representing, is not the same, virtually relegating him to the position of a one-man army.
An aam aadmi Dr Gandhi took on the royalty when it appeared almost invincible with all its grandeur and influence over the voters in the royal city of Patiala; and succeeded. This time, he made clear his intentions to cause the downfall of the Patiala’s royal family — a process he initiated in 2014 by defeating “Maharani” Preneet Kaur by a margin of 20,900 votes in his electoral debut.
Giving half credit to AAP’s “broom” for his stunning win during the previous elections, the 67-year-old MP from Patiala is confident of conquering the seat this time again even without it.
Dr Gandhi, who has now floated his own party (Nawan Punjab Party) and is contesting May 19 elections as a joint candidate of the Punjab Democratic Alliance (PDA) — a conglomeration of six outfits, was “suspended” from AAP in 2015 after he raised his voice against Arvind Kejriwal’s “dictatorial” attitude by ousting senior leaders like Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan.
Banking on his series of development works across the constituency, with common cremation grounds for people of all castes topping the list, coupled with “honest and simple image”, Dr Gandhi maintained that Patiala contest is his direct fight not only with Patiala royal family, but with the Punjab Government headed by her husband Capt Amarinder Singh, with SAD and AAP having no grounds to hold among the Patialvis.
Besides his opponents, Dr Gandhi is facing another challenge of making the people aware about his election symbol as most of the people still recognise him as “jhaadoo wala”. As a candidate of Nawan Punjab Party, the election commission has allotted him “microphone” as his poll symbol, and Dr Gandhi ensured to carry a microphone, similar to his election symbol, to let the people know where they have to press the EVM button.
Out of the total Rs 25 crore MP LAD (local area development) fund, Dr Gandhi has utilised 98 percent of total funds — highest amongst the Punjab’s MPs.
As Dr Gandhi has made a place in the hearts of all Patialvis, cutting across all sections of society, through his hard work, commitment and social works, the “accessible” Preneet Kaur is already out in the field preparing to reclaim her throne.
With Chief Minister and his entire coterie with her, Preneet is confident of romping home to victory this time. Leaving no stone unturned, Preneet has toured every nook and corner of Patiala Lok Sabha constituency — a seat once represented by her mother-in-law Maharani Mohinder Kaur in 1967, and then her husband Capt Amarinder Singh in 1980.
Preneet’s defeat in 2014 elections was attributed to the absence of her husband in Patiala as he was also busy fighting it out on Amritsar electoral battlefield against BJP stalwart Arun Jaitley.
Preneet, who is contesting from Patiala for the fifth consecutive time, is banking on her “clean and accessible” image, achievements and development works during her husband's two-year stint as the Chief Minister vis-à-vis the 10-year “misrule” of the previous SAD-BJP government in the State.
A Congress pocket-borough, Patiala seat has always remained a challenge for the Akali Dal which has won only four elections out of total 16 the constituency has witnessed.
Rakhra, a modest-but-strong politician, has a firm grip over the constituency’s rural voters. Facing a daunting task to turn the tide in his favour, the Akali leader is banking on the Modi wave — which Preneet denied to have any impact in Punjab, and the development by the SAD-BJP combine government in its 10-year stint in the State.
