Punjab polls: In CM seat, a boat that bridges Sutlej, a bridge that’s on paper

As the group gear up for five-minute boat ride to the other side, what kicks off the poll charcha in the boat is ‘gareeb’ status of their three-time MLA Channi, who has declared assets worth Rs 9 crore, illegal sand mining and ED raids on his nephew.

“He has done many works for the constituency but he is certainly not gareeb as Rahul Gandhi claims,” says one of the villagers.

“But it will be good for us if he becomes the CM again. Every year during monsoon, the Sutlej overflows, this boat ride stops and villages on both sides remain disconnected. Schools are shut because students fail to reach them. Maybe we can get a bridge if Channi is CM again,” says Raman Singh, adding he will vote for the Congress CM face as he will “certainly bring development” in his own constituency.

“Every year during monsoon, the Sutlej overflows, this boat ride stops and villages on both sides remain disconnected,” says Raman Singh. 

Fellow passenger Prem Singh disagrees. He wants a ‘change’ and his choice would be the other Charanjit Singh, the one fielded by the AAP. “Since when have Sikhs started believing in casteism? If you are Dalit, you are not a Sikh and if you are a Sikh, you can’t believe in castes. Guru Nanak never preached casteism so why should we vote on basis of caste? Dalit means a person who is poor and underprivileged but Channi is not gareeb. Illegal sand mining continued here for years. Crores have been recovered from his nephew’s place,” he says.

As the discussion continues, Bhagat Singh explains how the absence of a bridge has made life difficult especially for farmers and students. “When it rains, the river overflows and boat rides stop. The longer road route takes at least 40 minutes via Ropar. It is only now this has become CM’s constituency, we have been waiting for a bridge for decades,” he says.

Neighbouring Mallewal is village Jindanpur, the alleged hub of illegal sand mining where AAP leader Raghav Chadha had conducted a ‘raid’. Villagers say: “Hundreds of trolleys filled with sand still pass from here daily. They have damaged all the roads. No one stops them even after all hue and cry over illegal mining amid election season.”

Channi is pitted against his namesake of AAP, an eye surgeon and Harmohan Singh Sandhu, former Punjab Police AIG who is SAD-BSP candidate.

The AAP leader, known in the area for holding free eye surgeries of the poor, had lost to Channi in 2017. “Channi’s claim of development works is a sham. Does aam aadmi have crores of assets, if so, then each person in Punjab should be as gareeb as him. This time people will choose the real aam aadmi, not the fake one,” he says.

Channi laid the foundation stone of Rs 114-crore Bela-Paniyal bridge over Sutlej in November last year, but on the ground, not a single brick has been laid. “The bridge exists only on paper. The contractor has left. Maybe the bridge will appear after Channi becomes the CM again,” said a villager.