By touching feet of the elderly, Malvinder Singh Kang stoops to conquer

Clad in a white kurta and pyjama with AAP’s yellow turban, 45-year-old Kang wooed the youth by reminding them how he started his political career as a student. “I started as a student leader. I was elected the president of the Panjab University Students Union (PUSU) twice. Now, the party has nominated me to contest the Lok Sabha elections. I see so much talent in the youth in this area. I assure you if elected, I will get you stadiums. You will get opportunities to play and make a niche for yourself.” he told the youth who gathered in quite a few numbers, adding that the area is a nursery for volleyball players.

“Our party is committed to the welfare of youth and elderly. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has concerns in their heart about the future of the youth and the health of the elderly. And I am his sipahi. I have been a student leader, a farmer’s son and Mann Sahib da sipahi,” said AAP chief spokesperson Kang, who is known for his oratory.

“That is why we have set up Aam Aadmi Clinics. We have given 43,000 jobs to young men and women. During my visit to a village, two women told us their children were selected as police sub-inspectors. This gives me immense happiness,” he said as he tried to strike a chord with the youth, women and men. At the same time, he reminded them how Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “insulted them by recruiting them only for four years as Agniveers”.

He did not forget to mention free power to “90 per cent of households”, canal water supply coverage of 55-60 per cent against 25 per cent earlier, and telling voters that their government was working with honesty.

He touched upon the major issue of shortage of water in Kandi area, of which Balachaur is a part. The area supplies water to Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan through a canal network but suffers water shortage due to depleting underground water. The canal water supply is scarce, too, as it is supplied only by the Kandi canal.

Geeta Devi, a resident of Singhpur village, said, “We are happy. They have installed a tubewell in our village.”

Located on the foothills of the Shivaliks, and its proximity to Himachal Pradesh, people here depend on agroforestry but wild animals like nilgai and wild boars enter fields and damage crops. Kang did not miss this issue as he said he would find a solution.

“I will be among you once you elect me. Don’t send anyone who doesn’t return to you. See what Congress’s Manish Tewari did. He got elected and never came back. Now, women tell me that they will vote for me if I promise to return to the constituency. I assure you I will be there. But be careful of the outsider,” he told people in Singhpur village referring to Congress candidate Vijay Inder Singla, a former MP from Sangrur.

In Anandpur Sahib, Kang is also pitted against Prem Singh Chandumajra of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Subhash Sharma of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “Chandumajra spent all his MPLAD fund in Patiala to strengthen his son’s constituency,” he alleged.

In Jhandupur village, Kang said, “See how many toll plazas he has closed. He stopped 9-9 pensions of leaders. We work honestly. You should send such candidates to the Lok Sabha, who are not scared of Modi’s agencies. Do a repeat of 2022, when you made people sit at home.”

Kang, a first-timer, has been fielded in a constituency which has at least five Assembly segments with a sizable Sikh population and the rest four Assembly segments have a predominating Hindu population. Out of nine Assembly segments, seven are represented by the AAP, one each by the SAD and the BSP. Nawanshahar is represented by the BSP, Banga by the SAD and Balachaur, Garhshankar, Anandpur Sahib, Chamkaur Sahib, Ropar, Kharar and Mohali are represented by the AAP. It was Chamkaur Sahib that humbled former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, who was defeated by his namesake from the AAP Dr Charanjit Singh Channi.

Four districts Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahar, Mohali and Ropar form the Anandpur Sahib constituency named after Anandpur Sahib City, associated with the birth of Khalsa.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Congress’s Manish Tewari had bagged 4.27 lakh votes, defeating SAD’s Chandumajra.