Sangrur, Punjab (April 14, 2014): As per information an independent candidate Bhagwant Singh is also in run from Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency, from where Aam Aadmi Party’s candidate Bhagwant Mann is expected to give strong fight to Badal Dal’s candidate Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Congress Party’s candidate Vijay Inder Singla.
Though the strategy of fielding namesake candidates against a strong candidate often fails to deceit the voters, it seems Badal Dal want to try all it’s tactics in this election.
Bhagwant Mann had unsuccessfully contested the February 2012 Assembly elections on “kite” symbol as a People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) candidate from Lehragaga. He had secured 26,136 votes to finish third in that contest.
PPP leader Manpreet Badal, who is contesting on Congress Party’s election symbol against Badal Dal’s heavy weight Harsimrat Badal, is also faced with a similar problem in the Bathinda Lok Sabha constituency. His namesake (an Independent) has also got “kite” as his election symbol.
People in the Sangrur constituency feel the presence of Bhagwant Singh in the fray as an Independent on “kite” symbol may affect prospects of Bhagwant Mann. Some voters intending to vote for Bhagwant Mann may end up voting for Bhagwant Singh (by mistake) as “kite” was his election symbol in the 2012 Assembly elections.
Bhagwant Singh, a dairy farmer of Mandvi village (Moonak), reportedly told The Tribune (TT) that he entered the poll fray because he was fed up with “false promises” made by political leaders. He said he had given two preferences for election symbol, “kite” and “torch”, and he had been allotted “kite”.