With the son of a Turncoat MP opposed to two candidates who also changed camp just before the announcement of the candidacy, the constituency of the Chabbewal Assembly is ready for an interesting competition. The AAM AADMI Party (AAP) aligned Ishank Kumar, son of Hoshiarpur's seated deputy, Raj Kumar Chabbewal, who left Congress to challenge the Lok Sabha elections for the AAP in June of this year. Ishank was associated with his father's political campaigns.
The BJP aligned Sohan Singh Thandal, a former chief Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) who represented this district from 1997 to 2017, while the Congress chose Ranjit Kumar who had challenged the previous polls of Lok Sabha as a Bahujan Samaj (BSP) candidate.
Chabbewal's by -election was necessary after Raj Kumar, then deputy for the congress, resigned to challenge the Lok Sabha survey of Hoshiarpur for AAP. Previously known as Mahilpur, this reserved district was reshaped and renowned in the delimitation process by mixing the segments of Mahilpur, Garhankar and Hoshiarpur.
Confusion prevails
The defection of the leaders caused confusion as well as the discouragement of workers from different parties who have trouble making the way to follow. The sympathizers of the BSP and SAD are perplexed because the parties did not present candidates. The newly named BSP state president, Avtar Singh Karimpuri, who won this seat in 1992, said the decision to stay away from the by -election had been taken before taking the reins. He said that the party would not like to strengthen its “opponents” by asking its executives to vote in a particular way.
The SAD voting bank should also go to different directions. Thandal du BJP has managed to appease some of his loyalists, but there are some who have sworn to vote against him because they believe that he “rejected the party in its difficult phase”. Congress workers believe that the party's decision to choose a BSP leader while ignoring their own men is likely to affect the voting model.
AAP Banks on the influence of Raj Kumar
Ishank Kumar's electoral campaign of the AAP depends on the personal links of Raj Kumar and the work initiated or executed by him in the past 10 years. Raj Kumar affirms during public meetings which ₹70 crore landed for projects in the constituency and ₹2 Brooders given for the realization of Kutcha houses.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has already discussed three meetings in the constituency. Knowing that his prestige is at stake, Raj Kumar withdraws all the stops when his son was searching and almost accompanies him at each public meeting. Ishank has promised better roads, bridges, community centers, gymnasiums in addition to a Polytechnic college.
“You have a better chance of obtaining amenities if the deputy and the deputy come from the ruling state party. My father and I will work together to meet your needs. In addition, the CM has promised to empty all the projects I recommend, “he told residents during meetings.
It also highlights the free electricity of the 300 units of the state government at each household.
The Congress highlights the promises “ not held ''
The candidate of the Congress, Ranjit Kumar, who had less time to establish public contact, draws attention to the uninformed promises of the AAP government during his gatherings and slam it to deteriorate the situation of public order.
While the leaders of the Congress are busy putting the room in the order which was left in ruins with the exit of Raj Kumar, Ranjit Kumar uses his personal influence to draw the bank bank. Being the president of the district bar association, he obtained the support of a section of the lawyer of lawyers.
“Congress concerns are deeply aligned with the well-being of ordinary people. He decides on the caste census and other problems concerning the planned castes. He has the will and the ability to deliver, ”he says, justifying his passage to the large old part.
The party also faced the revolt. A former worker and tickets, Kulwinder Singh Rasholpur, who left the Congress, worked aggressively for the AAP. Some workers, neat with the choice of the party, would have been low. At the same time, Rana Gurjit Singh in charge of the constituency and the former Minister Sound Sham Arora campaign aggressively for Ranjit Kumar.
The BJP Thandal underlines “nepotism”
The move of Sohan Singh Thandal to leave the SAD for the BJP does not seem to have gone well with the members of the two parties. Some leaders of the Safran party stress that although the leaders of the BJP are campaigning for him, the reader lacks enthusiasm. “Resentment is simmering among the local leaders who believe that they could have been a better candidate,” explains the workers, wishing not to be appointed.
The setbacks since 2017 have not discouraged Thandal, who won the seat consecutively from 1997 to 2012. During electoral gatherings, he mainly targets AAP. “They used to criticize the congress for nepotism, but saw what they did. First of all, they gave a ticket to a turnover (Raj Kumar) during the deputy elections and now aligned his son, “he said. He also blamed the government of the State to make farmers suffer.
Basic change
With the exception of the 1992 elections when BSP had put in the siege of Mahilpur at the time, the caste voters listed by this reserved constituency voted major for the congress and the SAD. The AAP made its presence felt in 2017 when it upset the Applecart of the Congress. Between 2017 and 2022, the share of the votes of Congress increased from 49.96% to 41.02% while the Part of Voting of AAP increased from 17.71% to 34.40%. SAD's share increased from 24.7% to 16.74%.
During the last parliamentary elections, Sohan Singh Thandal, then with sad, lost his security deposit because the BJP was no longer an ally. During the same election, Raj Kumar won maximum in the Chabbewal segment, obtaining more than 27,000 votes than his rival closest to the BJP. His two consecutive victories and a parliamentary victory paved the way for the appointment of his son this time.
