Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia Tuesday announced that he will not fight from Majitha Assembly constituency, which he has been representing since 2007, and will only contest from Amritsar East from where he has entered the fray against Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu. Majithia, a former minister, further said his wife Ganieve Kaur, will contest from Majithia in his place. Ganieve filed her nomination papers from Majitha seat on Monday. “After taking permission and blessing of voters of the Majitha Assembly segment, I announce that my wife Ganieve Kaur will fight from Majitha seat. I will contest from Amritsar East seat,” said Majithia. Addressing media here, Majithia said after the party nominated him from Amritsar East, there was a confusion in the minds of the voters “who rightfully felt that I might forsake the seat” if elected from two constituencies. “I have addressed this concern,” he added. Majithia, who had earlier filed nomination papers from Majitha, said the decision to fight from only Amritsar East was also prompted by the fact that he wants to “break the arrogance” of Sidhu, “I have decided to teach him to respect the people of the constituency. He will start loving the people of this constituency by the end of the campaign. He will learn to respect elders. He will have to stop making statements in the air and descend to the level of the common man,” Majithia said. Majithia, a three-time MLA, targeted Sidhu for not carrying out any development work in the Amritsar East constituency. The PPCC chief last week had dared Majithia to leave Majitha and fight only from his constituency. Claiming that the people of Amritsar East felt “humiliated: by Sidhu’s behaviour, Majithia said the Congress leader never participated in any social function of the constituents. “He never went to grieve at anyone’s passing away. He is not only unmindful of his constituents but also deceives them by promising projects like sports stadiums and overbridges on the eve of elections and forgets about them once the polls are over. Now, when he goes to meet the people, he will see for himself the state of roads and streets in this constituency. People will ask him why he failed to ensure even basic facilities such as potable drinking water and sewerage facilities. Now the time has come for him to be answerable to his constituents,” the Akali leader said. Stating that he has “won the hearts of the people of Majitha with arduous work and dedication”, the former minister said, it was “with a heavy heart” that he was shifting from Majitha to Amritsar East. “I am confident Ganieve would serve the people of the Majitha with utmost dedication. It is not an easy decision for her also but I am confident she will do her best to continue the family’s tradition of service to the people,” Majithia added. The scrutiny of nominations will be done on February 2 and the last date of withdrawal of candidature is February 4. Voting for Punjab's 117 Assembly seats will be held on February 20 and the counting will take place on March 10.
