AAP gets good governance praise from Punjab voters but tepid response to candidates

Both also agree that corruption in government departments have reduced considerably as compared to earlier times. And both say that CM Bhagwant Mann’s name resonates in the villages as far as credit for these accomplishments is concerned. But when asked who was the favourite to win from Patiala, both name Dr Dharamvira Gandhi, the former AAP MP from Patiala who had been suspended soon after winning elections in 2014 and who quit the party and is now contesting as the Congress candidate.

When asked about the dichotomy of their stance, both say that Dr Gandhi did good work during his previous term as MP, giving grants to villages. Both referred vaguely to a railway line project he got for the constituency but they did not have the details. For Sangrur they said Meet Hayer was ‘in the fight’.

Near Nabha, Gurminder Singh echoed the same views and said that while Dr Balbir Singh of AAP was a good candidate he was more known in Patiala rural assembly constituency while Dr Gandhi has the advantage of being known all over the Lok Sabha constituency due to his earlier stint. “He has a comrade attitude (communist attitude) because of which he had to leave AAP but he is also known for his charity clinic,” he said.

According to Gurmeet Singh, who works as a vehicle mechanic, it is the local issues which help them decide which candidate to vote for rather than any national issue being politically debated.

“We do not really know about the Constitution amendment controversy. We just know what our village needs, what it should get and we vote accordingly,” he says when asked if he knew about the big issues like Constitution amendment by BJP being alleged by Congress. Some voters did not want to give out their names but majority spoke of a fight between Congress and AAP and referred to BJP candidate Perneet Kaur as a ‘has been’. “Till some years back there used to quite a buzz about her laying this foundation stone and that in villages but now it is all over,” said one young man who claimed he did not vote because he was a ‘fauji’ and was home on leave.

AAP supporters upbeat over Meet Hayer

In Dirba, which falls under the Sangrur constituency, things are said to be looking up for the AAP contestant Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer who is primarily pitted against Sukhpal Khaira of Congress and sitting MP Simranjit Singh Mann of SAD (Amritsar).

During the Sangrur by-poll which was won by Simranjit Singh Mann, the then AAP candidate had trailed from Dirba by considerable votes. The assembly constituency is represented by Finance Minister Harpal Cheema. But AAP supporters say this time around situation is different. “Simranjit Mann had won by only 5,000 votes and that too because the SAD transferred its votes to him. This time it will not happen as we are very strong. We will ensure record lead from Dirba,” says Ajay Singla a close associate of Harpal Cheema.

While many AAP workers in this Lok Sabha constituency say Meet Hayer’s campaign is in top gear, privately they concede that it took some time to get on the rails and even now there were some assembly segments which are of concern. “We do expect low numbers from Bhadaur and Malerkotla. Sunam was slow in the beginning but has picked up now,” said a AAP worker in Sangrur city on condition of not being named. Sunam is represented by AAP minister Aman Arora.

As per AAP expectations here, Dera Sacha Sauda support to BJP as well as the Ram Mandir support for the saffron party will harm Congress and not AAP. “Village votes are with us, BJP leaders are not being allowed to enter villages by the people due to anger of farmers agitation. Meet Hayer will win by a margin of one lakh votes,” says Singla. A claim which will be easy to verify on June 4.