High-stakes battle for prestigious seat

Karam Prakash
Tribune News Service
Patiala, May 18

With only a couple of hours left for the Lok Sabha elections to get underway tomorrow, candidates of various political parties moved door-to-door in a last-ditch effort to woo voters today. 

Forty eight hours before the poll all public meetings, roadshows, rallies and electioneering of any kind, including on social media, are barred. However, candidates are free to contact voters through door-to-door campaign.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Bharaiya Janta Party (BJP) alliance candidate, Surjit Singh Rakhra’s niece, Manpreet Kaur, went door-to-door to campaign for his uncle today. Manpreet appealed to voters to come out in a large numbers to cast their vote and support Rakhra. She said, “People have already decided to elect Surjit Singh Rakhra as their MP. He will definitely win the elections.” 

Meanwhile, former Mayor, Ajitpal Singh Kohli and Indermohan Bazaz also went door-to-door for the SAD-BJP candidate. Kohli said, “People will, certainly, vote for an honest candidate like Rakhra.”

Meanwhile, Congress candidate Preneet Kaur’s daughter, Jainder Kaur, district Congress president KK Malhotra and district women president Kiran Dhillon along with party workers went door-to- door in the city for canvassing. 

Jainder and Captain Amarinder Singh said, “The Congress has campaigned aggressively for Preneet Kaur. We appeal to the people of Patiala to come out in large numbers to cast their votes. They should elect an honest and hardworking candidate like Preneet, who is committed for the development of Patiala.”

The Punjab Democratic Alliance (PDA) candidate, Dr Dharamvira Gandhi, himself in the last attempt to woo voters went door-to-door today. Appealing city residents for a record turnout, Gandhi said voters should play their role in strengthening democracy by exercising their right to vote. 

“People should once again elect me as an MP so that I can work more for the district in a transparent manner. It’s a fight between the Royal family and a commoner,” he added.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate, Neena Mittal, gave her last shot to woo voters as she campaigned door-to-door in Rajpura and other blocks of the district. Neena went to shopkeepers in the city to appeal to vote in her favour. 

She said, “The residents of Patiala have still faith in the party. They will vote for AAP in these elections. People are fed up with mainstream parties like the Congress and SAD as both have failed to deliver.”