Punjab Elections 2022: Congress has held the Nawanshahr assemly seat since 2012.
Punjab's Nawanshahr assembly is bracing for an interesting electoral contest of what many are calling "a rebel versus a turncoat" in the upcoming state assembly elections. Congress had given the party ticket in this stronghold to one family for a record 13 times in the last 60 years. However, the sitting MLA from the family was denied a ticket as his wife joined rival BJP in Uttar Pradesh.
Now, another party leader who has been waiting for a ticket for the past 15 years has been nominated for the seat by Congress. Interestingly, he was recently appointed the district president of Captain Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress - a bitter rival of the Congress formed after Captain Singh was unceremoniously removed from the post of chief minister of the state.
Angad Singh Saini, the sitting MLA, is miffed with his party and has filed his nomination as an independent candidate. "The party has denied me a ticket and was forcing me to do something which was against my principles. I have filed my nomination as an independent," he said and added that it's "unfortunate" that his personal life, and not his work, was taken into consideration.
Congress has renominated 60 sitting MLAs this time, and Mr Saini says many who did not even perform well got another chance. "We have won all elections in the last five years, even the municipal polls. We have kept the Congress flag flying high," he said, disappointed at his name being dropped. He says the people of the constituency are "his family" and he was forced to contest as an independent as an obligation to them.
Satvir Singh Palli Jhikki, the Congress candidate this time, claims that Captain Singh appointed him as the district president of his new party without his consent, and that he is now "busy pacifying the upset leaders and workers" because of the chaos it has caused. "I am an old Congress leader," he asserts.
A semi-urban constituency, Nawanshahr has remained in the family of Angad Singh Saini for eight terms. The Saini community has a sizeable presence here and the Congress has held it since 2012.
The seat falls in the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district. Formerly known as Nawanshahr, the district was renamed Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar in 2008 as the freedom fighter's ancestral village Khatkar Kalan is located here.
Like most other constituencies, illegal mining, drugs, unemployment and sewer problems are the key issues in the assembly seat.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded sitting councillor and former Nawanshahr municipal council president Lalit Mohan Pathak. Mr Pathak has a good hold on the city, having played a vital role in ensuring its top performance in the Swachh Bharat Survekshan.
"People are looking for change as both the traditional parties have only taken people for a ride," he said.