Hindustan Times: November 18th, 1999
Amarinder to give tough fight to Akalis
ADAMPUR, Raveen Thukral

The scion of the erstwhile royal family of Patiala, Capt Amarinder Singh, is leaving no stone unturned to give the Akalis a run for their money in this predominantly rural constituency that goes for the by-elections on Nov 25.

Known to be a "non-Congress" seat, this constituency for the last three decades has been sending the candidates of the Akalis. CPI and the BSP to the Vidhan Sabha. The last Congress candidate to win this seat was in 1967 when Chaudhry Darshan Singh was elected from here. Despite these odds, Capt Amarinder Singh, who took over the reins of the faction-ridden party's state unit only four months ago, has made the contest a keen one and as things stand today, the Congress is in for a fierce fight with the ruling Akali-BJP combine.

Though the last three days of campaigning are decisive, Capt Amarinder has been traversing the dusty trail of this constituency for the past few weeks and is making things more difficult for the Akalis, with each passing day.

Moreover, he has made them follow suit as several Punjab Ministers and even the Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, are on the road here to muster support for their party candidate, D. S. Dheerowal.

While the contest is mainly between Dheerowal and Kanwaljit Singh Lalli of the Congress and Left-backed candidate of the BSP Ms Vidwant Kaur, Akali Dal Amritsar, led by radical Sikh leader Simranjit Singh Mann, are also in the day. The elections to this seat were necessitated by the the death of Akali Minister, Saroop Singh, who had defeated Lalli by about 18,000 votes in the last elections. The Left parties, who are backing the Congress in their bid to defeat the "dangerous and communal combine of the Akali-BJP" also have a considerable following in the constituency that has an electorate of about 1.30 lakh.

Interestingly, this constituency has the dubious distinction of never having returned a candidate of the same party in consecutive elections. The Congress won this seat in 1967, which was followed by a party's rebel candidate winning in 1972 and by the Janata Party in 1977. The CPI won this seat in 1980, followed by the Akalis and the BSP in 1985 and 1992 respectively.

As far as issues are concerned, the Congress is turning to its advantage the sentiments of the people on price rise in general and the hike in bus fares and electricity tariff in particular. The Government is also being blamed for the colossal losses suffered by the farmers on account of delay in procurement of paddy that subsequently got damaged by the unseasonal rains.

The government on the other hand is toting its success in making the specifications of procurement independent of the Centre and its prize catch of the Rs 16,000 crore oil refinery which is going to be the biggest Central investment in the State since Independence. Mr Badal in his election meetings is attacking the Congress on the issue of Operation Blue Star and the 1984 riots and accusing the party of being anti-Sikh. In a village near this town today Mr Badal appealed to the people to support the Akalis and settle "any grudges with them after the end of his term."

Talking to The Hindustan Times, Capt Amarinder Singh, who seemed satisfied by the party's present position, accused the ruling combine of misusing official machinery to win the elections. He said that he had written to the Election Commission of the various violations being committed by "Badal and his men". "The Ministers are using their official vehicles for canvassing and money is being used to buy votes," he alleged. The ex-Maharaja, who apprehends "trouble" by the government on the polling day, said that Congress activists will be posted at all polling stations to thwart the nefarious attempts of the Akalis. He also accused the government of intimidating the voters and spreading terror. However, Ministers of the ruling combine deny this by terming the allegations as a political stunt to gain publicity.

The love-hate relationship between Badal and SGPC supremo, Gurcharan Singh Tohra, is apparently visible in this constituency. Despite the fact that this constituency has majority Sikh voters, the SGPC president has so far remained away from the campaigning.

While the Congressmen claim that this is yet another move of Mr Tohra to embarrass the Chief Minister, the Akali leaders are hopeful that the SGPC chief will fall in line soon and join the canvassing in the last days.

With less than a week left for the polls, this election has become a matter of prestige for both Mr Badal and Capt Amarinder Singh.

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