Bathinda promises to be hot seat in LS polls

Bathinda promises to be hot seat in LS polls
Rajay Deep
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 3
With parliamentary elections drawing closer, political parties have started flexing their muscles to grab the Bathinda Lok Sabha seat, expected to be among the most happening constituencies during the forthcoming polls.
The reason for this is not far to seek with a member of the Badal family and former CM Captain Amarinder Singh's son Raninder Singh expected to throw their hat in the poll ring. The report about Simranjit Singh Mann, president of the SAD (A), also expressing his wish to contest the seat, promises to make it an interesting fight.
As reported on many occasions, the ruling SAD (B) has been pushing development works in the constituency to turn the tide in their favour after the drubbing in assembly elections. But the pull of the Congress among the voters, especially in rural areas, promises to make the contest a closely fought one.
Now, SAD (B) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal is to come to Bathinda on December 6 to attend the concluding ceremony of three-day animal fair.
He would also hold a series of meetings of party workers to boost their morale and chalk out strategy.
According to sources, Sukhbir Badal, to leave no stone unturned, called Deputy Commissioner Bathinda, Rahul Tewari and BMC Commissioner K.K. Yadav to Chandigarh on Wednesday along with all reports of ongoing projects and also of those which are still in the pipeline.
Captain Amarinder Singh, the chairman of Congress election campaign committee, who took on CM Parkash Singh Badal on his home turf Lambi, by holding a rally, has now chalked out a plan to galvanise party workers from Bathinda on December 8, which also happens to be the birthday of his bete noire, the CM himself.
Giving details of Amarinder's visit, Narender Bhaleria, district president of Congress (rural), said he would hold a meeting at the Kohinoor Palace in Bathinda, where all nine MLAs of Bathinda and Mansa districts would be present.
Interestingly, if we talk about the poll related efforts, the in-fighting at the constituency level between the leaders of both parties can not be ruled out.
Though the high command of the Congress is serious over the issue, uniting leaders of all factions of the party is expected to be a tall order as the urban and rural units of the Congress have always come out in the open regarding their differences.
In the same way, SAD (B) is also facing infighting among candidates who were defeated in the assembly polls and those who could not get the ticket.
According to information available, both the major parties have been holding closed door meetings with the Dera Sacha Sauda followers, as none of them wants to lose the votes of the Dera followers.