Chandigarh: Even though the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann appears to have an edge, he is facing a stiff challenge from Congress’ sitting legislator Dalvir Singh Khangura aka Goldy in the Dhuri assembly seat.
Goldy -- a young student leader from Panjab University (PU) -- had defeated AAP candidate Jasvir Singh, as a first-timer, by about 2,800 votes in 2017.
Mann is a second-time MP since 2014 from Sangrur Lok Sabha seat of which Dhuri is one of the nine segments. He had lost his two assembly elections – one from nearby Lehra (on People’s Party of Punjab’s ticket in 2014) and Jalalabad (on AAP ticket in 2017).
Interestingly, Dhuri has never been in such limelight before since Mann is the chief ministerial face of AAP. While Mann is popular as a television artiste and comedian, Goldy is seen as a gritty student leader. Both of them are Jat Sikh and good orators.
However, since Mann, 48, had won the LS seat with a huge margin in Sangrur, he has a major sway in the entire Malwa belt. The AAP leader, whose campaign is in full throttle, is indubitably getting a huge response from the public, which the Congress derisively dismisses as his popularity as a comedian rather than as a serious challenger to the CM’s post.
Mann, in his speeches, has been lashing out at all rival parties, accusing them of being corrupt and indifferent to the plight of Punjab. He says only AAP can save the state from large-scale corruption, crime, drugs and unemployment.
Even though Mann had fared well in the Dhuri segment in the past two general elections, his foray in the Assembly election is causing heartburn among a few local leaders who were expecting a ticket this time, Mann is said to have pacified them.
Goldy, 41, has a huge team of youth Congress and students unions, besides local supporters, rallying behind him; he has also undertaken an intense door-to-door campaign in the constituency highlighting developmental works undertaken during his stint as an MLA.
Congress supporters say that Goldy had also actively helped people during the pandemic, whereas Mann has little to tom-tom about on this front. They say that the AAP wave is confined to social media and that Mann does not even step out of his vehicle, while Goldy moves around barefoot.
From a college class representative in Chandigarh in 2002, Goldy became president of the Student Union of Panjab University (SOPU) in 2003; later, he became the president of the Panjab University Campus Students Council. This is before he joined the Youth Congress.
The Malwa region, which has 69 of the total 117 seats in the state, is considered to be an AAP citadel, as it won 18 of the total 20 seats in the 2017 assembly elections. Interestingly, no legislator from here has ever been made a minister by any ruling party in the past.
Even though the main fight in Dhuri is said to be between the AAP and the Congress, the SAD has given a ticket to former Sangrur MLA Parkash Chand Garg, the BJP to Randeep Singh Deol and farmers’ outfit Sanyukt Samaj Morcha (SSM) to Sarabjit Singh Alal.
