3 min readMogaApr 17, 2014 02:04 PM IST
First published on: Feb 28, 2013 at 06:00 AM IST
Sad candidate Joginderpal Jain on Wednesday admitted that a certain section of his party had turned against him,a day before the results were to be declared in the Moga bypoll. “People within the SAD are going to sink my ship. I am,however,confident that those against me will not be able to hurt me in rural areas as people there trust me but will harm my chances in urban areas. Those against me have used money,liquor and influence to turn my votes towards the Congress and PPP. I will lead in urban areas but with a less margin,” Jain said. He added that the ‘matter will be discussed with Sukhbir Badal but only after results.’
His close aides,however,told The Indian Express that the SAD candidate was particularly upset by the factionalism within the party. “Both Gill ( ex-DGP P S Gill) and Tota Singh ( MLA Baghapurana Tota Singh) have turned Jain’s votes into Congress’ and PPP votes by influencing people from where Jain had a strong support base. Now the game is not in favor of Jain either from rural areas where people within SAD are hurting him and nor in urban areas where Congress candidate Vijay Sathi enjoys good support.”
A day before the results,political pundits have shied away from calling the election. With 79.46 per cent voting from rural areas and only 66.89 per cent in the urban region,Jain could walk away with a victory if he gets wide support from rural belt.
On the other hand,Congress candidate Vijay Sathi is confident of securing a win with support from urban and rural areas. Hinting at having received support from both regions,Sathi said: “Despite arm twisting tactics adopted by the SAD,I am confident of a win.”
“Party,personality and credibility — these 3 factors decide a candidate’s fate and surprisingly,Jain possess none of the three,” he said.
“Urban people were already with me and now with factionalism in SAD,where majority of people are against Jain,I am going to gain maximum support from rural areas also,” he added.
Meanwhile,PPP candidate Ravinder Singh Dhaliwal,who got 7.39 per cent of the votes in the 2012 Assembly polls,said: “PPP will get support from villages and new voters. We are hoping for at least 15 per cent votes this year,double from last time. Akalis factionalism is going to benefit us. Akalis on day of polling distributed not only cash and liquor but also smack,and no action was taken. In fact no one listened to our complaints and officials stopped picking phones in evening.”
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