who is busy handling his father’s campaign in Lambi. Amarinder is also contesting from Lambi against Chief Minister and Akali Dal stalwart Parkash Singh Badal.
Besides J J Singh, Balbir Singh of the Aam Aadmi Party, is also in the fray, seeking to make the contest triangular.
In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Amarinder’s wife had lost Patiala seat to Dharmavira Gandhi of AAP, but maintained a lead from Patiala Assembly segment. AAP has since split in the state and Gandhi is no longer with it.
Entering the poll arena for the first time, J J Singh, a greenhorn in politics, says his motto is “decisive victory against Amarinder who is not accessible and is an arrogant leader drunk with power”.
“It’s mission impossible for Amarinder,” J J Singh claims.
“I am not here to seek vote, but to serve the people,” he says, adding “may the best candidate win”.
The former Army General says political dynamics in Punjab have changed after AAP entered the fray. He feels AAP candidate will eat into the traditional votes of Congress, helping him in the process.
“I am here with no past baggage”…I am fighting a battle against a person with colonial mindset,” he says.
Describing himself as a “true soldier”, Singh says Amarinder was “not a true army personnel”.
“Amarinder joined the Army just to get the rank…he was never active in combat. In the 1965 war, when army personnel were recalled, he should have opted to serve on the border,” he says.
In the absence of Amarinder, Preneet, stil addressed as Maharani, tells people in the constituency: “You trusted me.
But now I have come to ask for your vote for Maharaja Sahab.
It is your responsibility to give the state another CM. Badals have left Punjab in a sad state. The state has been plundered.”
AAP’s Balbir Singh, however, considers himself a dark horse.
“Why is Amarinder fighting a war by proxy? Where is he?” he asks.
The eye surgeon, who had crafted Dharamvira Gandhi’s campaign against Preneet in 2014 polls, asserts, “First we defeated the Rani. Now it is the turn of the Raja.”
(This article has not been edited by DNA’s editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
Source: dnaindia.com