All political parties put their best step forward on the last day of campaigning for October 11 Gurdaspur lok Sabha bypoll on Monday.
Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh held a massive road show in the constituency giving a last push to the party nominee Sunil Jakhar’s election campaign.
As the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) too went all out to campaign for its candidate Major General (retired) SK Khajuria, the SAD-BJP combine candidate Swaran Salaria got a ‘double’ shot in the arm with the former Congress Minister Ashwani Sekhri’s brother — Inder Sekhri—joining the SAD and Sucha Singh Chhotepur’s Apna Punjab Party (APP) announcing support to the Mumbai-based businessman.
The Gurdaspur parliamentary bye-election would be remembered as the one that witnessed the sleazy campaigning all through. The politics was at its best. The parties did not hesitate to publicise the ‘undisclosed’ private aspect of their opponents’ lives.
Former Akali Minister Sucha Singh langah, a prominent and strong leader of the constituency, ended up behind bars as his video clip with a woman in objectionable position went viral all over coupled with charges of rape, extortion, and cheating against him.
In fact, the intimate pictures of Salaria were released by a Mumbai-based woman who alleged the BJP leader of raping her by promising a marriage.
Similar allegations were also levelled against two Congress leaders and former MlAs — Ashwani Sekhri and Jasbir Singh Dimpa — but could not be proved.
The issues of farmers’ debt waiver, employment, drugs, among others were out on backburner as the parties question the character and morality of their opponents.
Confident of the party’s win, Capt Amarinder appealed to the people of Gurdaspur to vote for Jakhar and make him win the election for further development of Gurdaspur.
Where Salaria is putting his best in is election campaign, party’s is also making every possible efforts of booth management. BJP is seeking votes as a tribute to former MP and Bollywood’s yesteryears’ superstar Vinod Khanna.
The SAD-BJP combine and even the AAP has also alleged the ruling Congress of unleashing vendetta against its opponents, besides the local Government officials favouring the ruling regime.
Dubbing both the SAD-BJP combine and Congress’ candidate as outsiders, AAP’s Khajruria claimed that he was the only one who is a local candidate and lives in the constituency well aware of the people’s issues and problem in this border region.
With Khajuria, AAP is wooing a huge vote-bank of ex-servicemen, in addition to the Hindus — which SAD-BJP and the Congress are also targeting by fielding a Hindu candidate.
For Congress which has returned to power in the State after a decade, the bypoll will be a litmus test of its popularity and credibility. The result would come as a report card for the efforts the party made during the first “semester”.
A positive election result, for the SAD-BJP combine, before the assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh would lend credibility to the party’s national policies and would signify the continuation of Modi magic.
For AAP, the election is more than an issue of prestige. A foray into the BJP bastion would indicate a renewed confidence of people in the party and its administrative and political ability.
The results would be declared on October 15.