In their (nick) names, Punjab candidates find key to slogans, political fortune

Sample this:

‘Tuhada Raja tuhade sang (Your Raja is with you)’ was the slogan of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief Amrinder Singh ‘Raja Warring’, who is also the party’s Ludhiana candidate.

The three-term Gidderbaha MLA also sought to catch the attention of migrants with another slogan: ‘UP, Bihar ka naara hai, Raja bhai humara hai’ (Even UP, Bihar says that Raja is our brother).

He has also gained a lot of attention with his other slogans such as ‘Warring naal pakki, Ludhiana di taraki’ (With Warring, Ludhiana’s development is guaranteed), ‘Phone vi chukange, kaam vi karvange, Ludhiana wallo, dosti neevange’ (Will answer your calls, will do the work, will always stay by your side).

While with the first three slogans, Warring pitched himself as Ludhiana’s perfect representative, with the third, he has hit his once friend and now political opponent BJP’s Ravneet Singh ‘Bittu’ hard, trying to point to the fact that the latter is “hardly available”.

Bittu, slain Punjab CM Beant Singh’s grandson and Warring’s once upon a time “younger brother”, who jumped ship and joined the BJP and was named party candidate from Ludhiana, had his Instagram profile full of campaign slogans. While one read, ‘Bittu de naal, saara Ludhiana khushaal’ (With Bittu, entire Ludhiana is prosperous), another said, ‘Saara Ludhiana hi Bittu da ghar hai’ (Entire Ludhiana is Bittu’s home).

AAP contestant from the seat, local MLA Ashok Parashar, was not far behind. Riding high on his nickname ‘Pappi’, he too joined the bandwagon and targeted ‘two birds’ with one stone. ‘Bittu te Raja gappi, jittuga sadda Pappi’ (Bittu and Raja are braggers, your Pappi will win),’ reads his slogan.

The trio’s fate lies in the hands of Ludhiana’s 17.54 lakh voters, including 9.34 lakh male and 8.19 lakh female.

A similar story played out in bordering Jalandhar where Congress candidate Charanjit Singh ‘Channi’ is pitted against BJP’s Sushil Kumar ‘Rinku’, AAP’s Pawan Kumar ‘Tinu’ and SAD’s Mohinder Singh Kaypee.

Under fire for his remarks terming the May 4 Poonch attack as BJP’s ‘poll stunt’, Channi not only made waves with his dance moves while campaigning but also with his slogan ‘Jalandhar shahr, Channi di lehar’ (In Jalandhar, there’s a Channi wave). The former CM also drew flak after a video of him cutting a cake with the words ‘Sada Channi Jalandhar’ went viral.

His rival and AAP nominee Pawan Kumar ‘Tinu’, meanwhile, found his slogan in the comment section of his Facebook where a supporter wrote: ‘Saada Tinu, Jalandhar Da Tinu’ (Our Tinu is Jalandhar’s Tinu).

Similarly, supporters came to aide of the other heavyweight in fray — BJP’s Sushil Kumar ‘Rinku’. Supporters of the sitting MP, who made headlines after he jumped ship and joined the BJP even after the AAP named him as their Jalandhar candidate, are often seen rooting for Rinku at party functions with slogans such as ‘Saade alla Rinku’ (Here comes our Rinku).

After facing backlash from farmers in border constituencies, three-term Sujanpur MLA and BJP’s Gurdaspur candidate Dinesh Singh ‘Babbu’ changed his campaign strategy. With the catchphrase ‘Babbu da varosa’ (Babbu’s assurance), Dinesh met farmers in border areas and promised them all required support from the Centre if voted to power.

AAP’s Sangrur candidate and Cabinet minister Gurmeet Singh ‘Meet’ Hayer met supporters and fans, asking them to stay glued to his social media where he released his “Meet Anthem”.

Supporters of the youngest Cabinet minister in the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government in Punjab had also coined a slogan for him — “Jittega Meet, jittega Sangrur (Meet will win as will Sangrur).

The women candidates in the race may not have nicknames but some leaders had more to flaunt – names fondly given by their supporters. Be it SAD’s Bathinda candidate ‘Bibi’ Harsimrat Kaur or BJP’s Patiala nominee ‘Maharani’ Preneet Kaur or Congress’ Faridkot contestant ‘Bibi’ Amarjit Kaur Sahoke, their rallies echoed with the fondly given bynames.

Meet was followed by other lesser known AAP candidates who tried to make the ultimate connect with voters by throwing their names in the ring in the nick of time.

While AAP candidate from Ferozepur Jagdeep Singh ‘Kaka’ Brar launched the hashtag of ‘Kaka Brar for Ferozepur’ on his Facebook page, party nominee from Gurdaspur, Amansher Singh ‘Sherry’ Kalsi was trying to tread softly with his pet name as that draws a link with another Punjab heavyweight and a political rival — Navjot Singh Sidhu who is often referred to by his Instagram handle ‘sherryontopp’.