Farmers Movement Archive

Punjab assembly polls | Friends-turned-foes to slug it out in Ludhiana West

The Ludhiana West constituency is all set for a no-holds-barred contest with friends-turned-foes – former Congress leader Gurpreet Singh Gogi, who recently joined the Aam Aadmi Party, and incumbent cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu – preparing to slug it out against each other in the upcoming Punjab assembly elections. The west constituency, which has been a Congress bastion, was being considered as the grand old party’s safe seat. However, Gogi’s defection has complicated matters. Gogi and Ashu will also face a tough contest from former cabinet minister and SAD leader Maheshinder Singh Grewal.Earlier, Colonel Iqbal Singh Pannu (retd) and Ahbab Singh Grewal were being seen as front runners for the AAP ticket. However, the induction of Gogi, a councillor from Ward 76 skewed the dynamics. It did not help that Ashu had won the 2017 elections for the second time from the west constituency after defeating AAP candidate Ahbab Singh Grewal with a margin of 36,521 votes.While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is yet to announce its candidate from the Ludhiana west constituency, Sanyukt Samaj Morcha (SSM) has fielded Bhartiya Arthik Party’s (BAP’s) Tarun Jain Bawa from the constituency. Incidentally, both Gogi and Bawa have had a falling out with Ashu, after years of being part of the core group which devised poll strategies for the Cabinet Minister. At one point, Gogi and Bawa had enjoyed a stronghold over the Ludhiana municipal corporation (MC) and the hosiery industry. At the time two factions, one led by Simarjit Singh Bains and the other led by Ashu, Gogi and Sandhu held sway over the House.The rift Over the years, both the leaders – Ashu and Gogi – grew in stature and differences between the two began to simmer. Both wanted a chance to fight the assembly elections on a Congress ticket. However, it was Ashu who got the ticket and won the 2012 elections with an emphatic margin, while Gogi went on to become the president of the District Congress Committee.In 2017, several eyebrows were raised during the 2017 Vidhan Sabha elections when Gogi did not campaign for Ashu in his area, citing poor health. While enmity was brewing between the two leaders, the two refrained from washing dirty laundry in public. The rift between the two heavyweights finally came to the fore after the 2018 municipal corporation elections where Gogi was in the race to become the next mayor. However, Balkar Singh Sandhu, who had Ashu’s backing, got the top seat. Nevertheless, Gogi capitalised on his proximity to former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and became Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation (PSIEC) chairperson.A similar falling out took place with Bawa joining the BJP. Ashu and Bawa were seen exchanging a heated argument over the setting up of a common effluent treatment plant (CETP) during the MC house meetings. Recently, Bawa quit the BJP in protest over the farm laws and founded his own political outfit. AAP’s calculated gamble Political pundits say pitching Gogi as a candidate from the west constituency was a calculated gamble, though the move has discouraged a few AAP workers hoping to get a ticket. While SAD is increasingly gaining ground in Ashok Nagar, Sham Nagar and Jawahar Nagar area, Gogi also enjoys considerable clout. With Bawa joining the fray, the contest will be all the more intense, especially once the BJP pitches a candidate. Never before has the constituency seen a five-cornered contest.

Hindustan Times

18-01-2022

Chandigarh