PNS/
The high-decibel campaigning for the multi-cornered Jalandhar parliamentary seat by-election came to an end on Monday evening with all the major political parties infusing their full energy on the last day of electioneering. Total 19 candidates, including four women, are in the fray.
With Jalandhar bypolls witnessing an interesting four-cornered contest, prominent political players — the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) — left no stone unturned to woo the electors in the reserved constituency.
The Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat, a Dalit stronghold, fell vacant following the death of Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary. He suffered a cardiac arrest during the party's Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jalandhar's Phillaur in January this year.
There are a total of 16,21,800 voters, comprising 8,44,904 males and 7,76,855 females and 41 transgender, in the constituency. Polling will take place from 8 am to 6 pm on May 10, while the counting of votes will be held on May 13.
Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner-cum-Returning Officer Jaspreet Singh said that all requisite arrangements were in place to ensure a free, fair and peaceful election.
The Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll is seen as a litmus test for ruling AAP in Punjab, which will be eyeing to wrest the seat from the Congress after it lost the Sangrur Parliamentary by-election last year.
For the Congress also, prestige is at stake and would like to retain the seat. The Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat is considered to be the traditional stronghold of the Congress and the party has remained undefeated from it since 1999.
Stakes are also high for the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal, which faced humiliating defeats during the 2022 assembly polls. They will also like to register victory from this seat of Punjab's Doaba region.
Punjab has 31.9 percent Scheduled Caste (SC) population, the highest among all states. Most of the SC population is concentrated in the Doaba region.
The AAP has fielded Congress’ former MLA Sushil Rinku, who quit the Congress and joined the ruling party in Punjab. The Congress has placed its bet on Karamjit Kaur, the wife of late Santokh Chaudhary.
The BJP has fielded Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal, a Dalit Sikh, who quit the Shiromani Akali Dal to join the saffron party. Atwal is the son of former Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal, who had also joined the BJP.
The SAD has fielded its two-time MLA from Banga seat Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi. The SAD candidate is backed by its ally the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Simranjit Singh Mann-led Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) has fielded Gurjant Singh.
During campaigning, the ruling AAP sought votes for its work done in the past one year. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took out road shows while campaigning in favour of party candidate Sushil Rinku.
Kejriwal had said that the people voted for the Congress for 60 years and asked the voters to vote for the AAP only for 11 months for development that took place in the state. He said if people did not like the work of his party, then they can vote against the AAP in the 2024 general elections.
Mann listed his government's “achievements”, including free electricity, giving jobs, regularizing services of contractual employees, action against corruption and opening of mohalla clinics, etc, during campaigning.
The opposition parties — Congress, BJP and SAD — targeted the AAP government over various issues, including alleged deteriorating law and order, alleged corruption and failure to fulfill its poll promises, especially Rs 1,000 per month to women.
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said: “People will give a befitting reply to the arrogant and power-smitten leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-election.”
During campaigning, Punjab Congress leaders put up a united face when senior leaders, including Warring, Partap Singh Bajwa, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Charanjit Singh Channi, accompanied the party candidate for filing nomination papers. On Monday also, all the leaders come together to set out on a foot march holding each other’s hand.
The BJP also aggressively campaigned in the bypoll and expressed hope that its candidate will win the seat. Senior BJP leader Vijay Rupani lashed out at the Congress for the “lack of development” in the constituency and the AAP for “deteriorating” law and order and “false” promises in the state.
The importance of the bypoll for the BJP can be gauged from the fact that several Union Ministers, including Hardeep Singh Puri, Jitendra Singh, Smriti Irani, VK Singh, and Arjun Ram Meghwal, campaigned for the party candidate.
SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal had said that a victory for Sukhi in the bypoll will be a true homage to Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal who died last month.
Slain singer Sidhu Moosewala's parents also took out a two-day "Insaaf Yatra" in Jalandhar to seek justice for their son.
SECURITY STEPPED UP ACROSS PUNJAB; FORCES CARRYING OUT REGULAR FLAG MARCHES
With the Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-poll around the corner, Punjab Police have beefed up the security across the State to ensure a free, fair, and peaceful poll. The state’s Special Director General of Police (Special DGP), Law and Order, Arpit Shukla on Monday said that following directions of DGP Gaurav Yadav, Commissioners of Police (CPs) and the Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) have been directed to install special nakas and enhance patrolling parties across the State to keep vigil at anti-social elements in their respective jurisdictions.
Similarly, SSPs of border districts have been asked to seal the borders by installing inter-state nakas and don’t let anyone enter the State without thorough checking and frisking, he added. He said that apart from enhancing patrolling, Punjab Police personnel, along with para-military forces, have been carrying out regular flag marches, especially in vulnerable areas, as part of confidence-building measures. The security would be beefed up further, he said.
