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Sanjiv Kumar Bakshi
Hoshiarpur, April 2
Congress candidate from the Hoshiarpur reserved Lok Sabha constituency Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal (50), is not only a sitting MLA from the Chabbewal reserve constituency but also the chairman of the Scheduled Caste department of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee for over four years.
Son of a poor father
Dr Raj Kumar, a renowned radiologist of Doaba, is son of a poor father who retired as a peon in PNB after working as a labourer and a soldier in the Guard’s Regiment of the Indian Army.
Under difficult circumstances, Dr Raj got school education from SBAC High School, Bajwara, till matriculation and passed Class XII from Government College, Hoshiarpur. He did his MBBS from Government Medical College, Amritsar, and then MD radio diagnosis from there in 1998. During this time, he was an active participant in various student bodies. Dr Rajkumar, with some of his peers, started an initiative for social development ‘Koshish’ NGO to provide proper health and basic education to deprived sections of society. For this, he is continuously working in health, education, environment care and social-communication to promote the overall holistic development of the poor. He joined active politics joining the Congress in 2010.
In 2012, the Congress, gave him ticket from Chabbewal and he lost the elections. Subsequently, in December 2015, he was appointed the chairman of the PPCC SC Department, and he’s continuing with it till now. In the recent (2017) Assembly elections, the Congress again fielded him from the Chabbewal reserve Assembly constituency and despite the challenge of rebel Congress candidate Balwinder Bittu, he defeated his opponent, SAD stalwart and the then minister Sohan Singh Thandal, with over 29,000 votes.
Dr Raj, who is considered close to Capt Amarinder Singh, kept the dialogue with people of the area after becoming a legislator.
Shunning VIP culture
Denouncing VIP culture, Dr Raj did not write his name on the foundation or inaugural stones and got all inaugurations in his area by elderly residents of villages and ex-servicemen. He’s having a clean image and known for visiting schools, markets, government offices to listen to problems of people. His initiative ‘Mandi Vich Manji’ to solve issues of farmers coming to the Mandi and facilitating them, was widely appreciated. In January this year, Dr Raj started a movement ‘Booth Ka Sipahi’ in the state from the PPCC SC Department which aims to form a strong network for the party at the booth level for the 2019 LS elections.
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