They were on the same side while in the Army, but Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh and former Chief of the Army Staff General JJ Singh do not see each other eye-to-eye in the political battleground.
With the “General” making an infiltration bid into the Captain’s bastion, the Patiala Royal is unwilling to part even with a single vote.
Holding the citadel since 2002, the ‘Maharaja of Patiala’ is once again in the battlefield where he has secured three back-to-back victories in 2002, 2007, and 2012. The conquest of his wife and former Union Minister Preneet Kaur in 2014 Assembly bypolls reflected the electors support to their royal family.
Notwithstanding, the emerging Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had succeeded to break into Congress’ fortress in 2014 lok Sabha polls, when a doctor-cum-social servant Dr Dharamvira Gandhi dethrone ‘Maharani’ Preneet Kaur from the constituency she has been successively winning since past three terms.
Political observers said that it was AAP’s hype at the national level, and Dr Gandhi’s work in Patiala that flattered the electors coupled with strong anti-Congress wave that resulted in Preneet’s defeat from Patiala parliamentary constituency, of which Patiala Urban segment is one part. However, Preneet managed a comfortable lead of 7,564 votes in Patiala urban segment.
With Dr Gandhi turning rebel and under suspension, AAP has now laid its bet on his former associate — Dr Balbir Singh. A medical practitioner, Dr Balbir had campaigned aggressively for Dr Gandhi during 2014 lok Sabha elections, before parting ways with him.
“Now, it is the turn of the ‘Maharaja’ to face defeat. Earlier, AAP had packed the bags of the ‘Maharani’ in the Parliamentary election,” AAP’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal had said at the time he announced Dr Balbir’s candidature.
Sources maintained that AAP is getting good support in Patiala, but it may not prove enough to intrude into Maharaja’s territory. For, the electors of Patiala urban constituency have almost always voted in favour of the royal family.
To counter the same, the ruling Akali Dal has chosen Gen JJ Singh for donning the combat fatigue turning Patiala into mini battleground. The possible reason behind SAD’s move to field Gen JJ Singh is to restrict Capt Amarinder to his constituency by fielding a stronger candidate.
With Gen JJ Singh entering the arena, it has become a direct fight between a Captain and the General, pushing a doctor to the background. For, the constituency has a considerable number of voters with army background.
Patiala has a total of 1.58 lakh voters, out of which ex-servicemen have nearly 5,000 votes, while serving soldiers have around 6,500 votes. The consolidated votes of ex-servicemen, servicemen and their families could be a deciding factor.
In the past elections, these votes were being cast in Capt Amarinder’s favour. With an eye on the same, the SAD too fielded a former army man. The constituency’s army population has now been divided between the Captain and the General with many accusing Gen JJ Singh of lowering the prestige of army general, while other section have joined him.
What is interesting, the batchmates of both the army men have come to Patiala for campaigning ahead elections turning the electoral battle into the matter of pride for the two.
Before the actual face-off, the two entered a slanging match crossing all limits of etiquettes army personnels were known for. “Usko naani yaad dila denge” was Capt Amarinder’s response on the reports regarding SAD fielding Gen JJ Singh.
SAD president Sukhbir Badal, while declaring Gen JJ Singh as party’s candidate, had said: “They had joined the army together. The Captain left after the first round but the general continued till the end. He has fought battles, braved bullets and now wants to serve the people.”
Taking on Capt Amarinder, Gen JJ Singh had roared, “I have heard that Captain has said this would be his last election. I would ensure that he goes out losing.” Responding, Capt Amarinder had said: “For the first time in history, a captain will defeat a general.”
PAST PERFORMANCE
Since 2002, Congress is holding the fort. During previous assembly polls, Capt Amarinder captured the seat by a huge margin of 42,318 votes defeating SAD’s Surjit Singh Kohli.
In 2014 bye-election necessitated after Capt Amarinder was elected MP from Amritsar, the contest was triangular with AAP as the third party. Congress’ Preneet emerged clear winner trouncing SAD-BJP combine’s Bhagwan Dass Juneja by 23,282 votes.
Out of the total 88,947 valid votes, Preneet got 52,967, Juneja 29,685, while the AAP’s candidate Harjeet Singh secured third place with just 5,724 votes. Interestingly, 623 exercised their franchise in favour of NOTA— the ‘none of the above’ option.