Jakhar kicks off campaign from Dera Baba Nanak

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Dera Baba Nanak, April 18

MP and Congress candidate from Gurdaspur parliamentary seat Sunil Jakhar started his campaign from the Assembly seat of Dera Baba Nanak, considered to be a “goldmine” in terms of votes keeping in view the Kartarpur Sahib corridor project and developmental works initiated by Cabinet minister and sitting MLA Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.

In the 2017 bypoll, Jakhar secured a massive lead of 44,000 votes from this seat and if the campaign plan drawn up by his backroom is any indication, he is seeking to increase this figure.

Keeping in view the seat’s political significance, the MP’s campaign managers have planned to hold four more gatherings soon.

Observers claim this is an astute move because the BJP candidate will definitely enjoy advantage in the Hindu-dominated seats of Sujanpur, Bhoa, Pathankot and Dinanagar. All these seats are held by the BJP under the seat-sharing agreement with the Akalis. The SAD contests the Qadian, Gurdaspur, Batala, Dera Baba Nanak and Fatehgarh Churian seats.

In Thursday’s rally held at Shahpur Jajjan, Jakhar lashed out at the Narendra Modi government saying, “The BJP is trying to take credit for the corridor but the fact remains that the decks for the project were cleared by Dr Manmohan Singh during the fag end of his tenure as Prime Minister.”