Yet to get a ticket, Congress MLA from Ludhiana North puts up a show

Congress MLA Rakesh Pandey has clearly said that “ticket from Ludhiana north is only his”.

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Rakesh Pandey with supporters. (Source: Express Photo by Gurmeet Singh)

The only Congress MLA from Ludhiana who has been kept waiting by the party for ticket till now — MLA from Ludhiana north Rakesh Pandey — held a show of strength and even projected himself as a Congress candidate from the area during a “meeting” in his constituency Saturday. Five-time winner from his constituency (including a bypoll), Pandey is the son of veteran Congress leader Joginder Pandey who was shot dead by terrorists in 1987.

Claiming he is “very confident” of getting a ticket this time too, Pandey speaking at the meeting, which eventually turned into a show of strength by his supporters, said, “I am happy that my workers and supporters came and discussed their grievances with me. I am myself accepting that works in my constituency have not been done but it is all because of dirty politics played by SAD-BJP. They did not even let sanctioned works to be completed. But now, it is time to make Congress win and form the government in 2017. We all have to work together to make Congress victorious and I know that my supporters will vote for me.”

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Asked about his ticket confirmation, Pandey said, “I have complete assurance from Captain Amarinder Singh that I will be the candidate from Ludhiana north. Even Sonia Gandhi’s response have been positive. So I had no doubt in telling people of my constituency today that I am their candidate. Yes, I am confident about it even before the formal announcement.”

This show of strength from Pandey came after sources said there has been “negative” feedback from his area and he might not be given a ticket this time. However, Pandey has clearly said that “ticket from Ludhiana north is only his”.

Divya Goyal

Divya Goyal is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, based in Punjab. Her interest lies in exploring both news and feature stories, with an effort to reflect human interest at the heart of each piece. She writes on gender issues, education, politics, Sikh diaspora, heritage, the Partition among other subjects. She has also extensively covered issues of minority communities in Pakistan and Afghanistan. She also explores the legacy of India's partition and distinct stories from both West and East Punjab. She is a gold medalist from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi, the most revered government institute for media studies in India, from where she pursued English Journalism (Print). Her research work on “Role of micro-blogging platform Twitter in content generation in newspapers” had won accolades at IIMC. She had started her career in print journalism with Hindustan Times before switching to The Indian Express in 2012. Her investigative report in 2019 on gender disparity while treating women drug addicts in Punjab won her the Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity in 2020. She won another Laadli for her ground report on the struggle of two girls who ride a boat to reach their school in the border village of Punjab. ... Read More