BSP may upset calculations Badal, Amarinder’s plans

The Akali candidate, Dalbir Singh Dheerowal, and Congress candidate Kanwaljit Singh Lalli have no illusions about a straight contest as their fate may well be decided by the Congress rebel, Vidhwant Kaur, now in fray as a Bahujan Samaj Party candidate.

Of the 1.2 lakh electorate, the Dalits constitute about 40,000 while 35,000 voters are Jat Sikhs, nearly 12,000 are Sikh Rajputs, 5,000 are Sainis and there are 1,500-odd Christians.

Interestingly, all the three major contestants in the eight-candidate field are Jats. Lalli had lost in the 1997 Assembly poll to Akali candidate Sarup Singh, the Cabinet minster whose death resulted in the by-election.

The Punjab Congress is sensing a chance in Adampur to wipe off the humiliation of losing in the previous elections. The Congress’ optimism is sustained by factors like the unprecedented price rise, inflation and the paddy procurement fiasco going against the ruling Akalis. But, history may not be on Congress’ side as the party last won this seat in 1967.

Badal and Amarinder Singh have made the election a personal battle by levelling allegations of being a "deserter" against each other. Amarinder accuses Badal in his rallies of promoting his family members while Badal impresses upon people that how could a "maharaja" understand the problems and needs of the poor.

Badal’s retort to Amarinder Singh’s offer of a public debate, describing him as a "small fry" in the Congress hierarchy, is publically rebutted by the firebrand Congressman, Jagmeet Brar, by labelling Badal as a "magarmachh".

The BSP candidate, Vidhwant Kaur, attacks both Badal and Amarinder, saying she is fighting against a "rajwada" (royalty) and the "zamindar" (big landlord). She says she is having a tough time scotching rumours that she is retiring in favour of the Congress candidate, Lalli. She told ENS that she has had to undertake a third round of the constituency just to set at rest any doubts about her seriousness to contest the election and to counter the Congress propaganda. She holds small meetings in villages, impressing upon Dalits to defeat the Congress and Akali candidates.

The styles of campaigning of Dheerowal and Lalli are a study in contrast, Dheerowal, a truck union leader from Adampur and sarpanch of Dheerowal village, has no pretensions of being a great orator. In fact, he rarely speaks at public meetings chaired by Badal. He is generally accompanied by Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh Kohar, who does most of the speaking on his behalf.

"My opponents allege that I cannot speak. Give me your vote and I will learn to deliver a speech also," is the appeal made by Dheerowal at village election meetings. Obviously, he is banking on Badal’s appeal as a vote-catcher."I have started door-to-door campaigning. No more election meetings for me now. Voters want to meet you personally," he told ENS at the Adampur election office. Ask him about the issues on which he is contesting and he modestly replies, "You know better." Badal’s typical tongue-in-check rural idioms while criticising his opponents do touch a chord with the electorate at meetings.

Lalli, on the other hand, delivers long speeches, elaborating the failures of the state government. Congress has been vociferous about the violation of the model code of conduct by the ruling party. Many complaints have been filed to the Chief Election Commissioner regarding issuing of backdated cheques for development works and old-age pension in villages by the Akalis. However, the CEC has yet to take note of the complaints.

The code violation complaints have also been lodged by Akali Dal (Amritsar) and Akali Dal (Democratic), who have fielded a joint candidate, Anoop Singh Minhas, who hopes to encash on 12,000 Sikh Rajput votes.