Ludhiana/Bathinda: Former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh is faced with a new challenge after setting up his party, Punjab Lok Congress, three months before the elections post his resignation from the Congress. Six candidates of Amarinder Singh'shis party have refused to contest assembly elections in the hockey stick-ball symbol, noting that they would like to contest on BJP's election symbol, the lotus, which would help them in urban areas.
This demand, as per information, has occurred in seats that are situated in urban areas, where BJP is believed to be influencing a large chunk of the voter base. On knowing this, the Captain is said to have started talks with the BJP to fulfill the demands of rebellious candidates.
Singh's Punjab Lok Congress, part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), got the seats in question via distribution of candidature. Posters of PLC candidates in the cities, notably, have posters of PM Modi.
As per information, the candidates have sought lotus symbols in Bathinda Urban, Ludhiana East, Ludhiana South and Atmanagar constituencies. Apart from the aforementioned, two more candidates have been holding up the same demand. The contenders say that because of the urban seats, they would like to compete under the lotus symbol.
"I am with the Captain but the public says that hockey stick-ball is not popular. So take the lotus flower. I requested the Captain and he gave me a lotus symbol after talking to the BJP. Lotus flower is being liked in cities," said PLC candidate Raj Numberdar.
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Hockey ball is missing from posters of PLC District President Jagmohan Sharma from Ludhiana East constituency and the lotus flower is already visible. Speaking to ETV Bharat, he said, "We are joint candidates of BJP's Punjab Lok Congress, but in cities we are contesting with lotus flower."
Congress candidate from Ludhiana East, Sanjay Talwar, meanwhile, threw a barb at the PLC's decision, saying the PLC electoral base could be imagined through candidates who did not even want to contest on the party's election symbol. Talwar even went so far as to say that perhaps the Captain himself now understood that his voter base was with the Congress party.
Senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Maheshinder Grewal also said that Amarinder Singh has retired and hence decided to field his candidates on the BJP symbol. "This is vote bank politics, the symbol of every party is its election symbol," he said, adding, "when the candidates of the party leave the party symbol, it can be estimated how much of a base the party really has".
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, on the other hand, said that BJP and the Captain together could try as much as they wanted, but people in villages and cities would not accept them, highlighting the hundreds of farmer deaths witnessed during the demonstrations against farm laws.
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This is not the first time that leaders have distanced themselves from Captain's party. Earlier, MLAs Rana Sodhi, Fateh Jung Bajwa and Harjot Kamal, who left the Congress, joined the BJP, rather than PLC.
The 2022 elections are seeing Captain Amarinder Singh contesting elections in alliance with the BJP for the very first time. The NDA alliance also includes Sukhdev Dhindsa's party Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Samyukta. Among a total of 117 seats being contested by the NDA alliance, BJP is contesting 65 seats, PLC 37 and SAD Samyukta 15 seats.
