Gurdaspur Diary: MLA Sekhri banks on lunch diplomacy to boost poll prospects

On the eve of elections, contenders seeking the party ticket suddenly start resurfacing. And so do the pretenders! Three-time MLA Ashwani Sekhri is fast emerging as a contender for the BJP ticket from Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency. Going by the seriousness with which he is going about his business, he is indeed a contender, not a pretender. Sekhri’s long yet chequered innings with the Congress is over. Like his MLA father Vishwa Mittar Sekhri, he too was a dyed-in-the-wool Congressman. That was until the Machiavellian machinations of some of his party colleagues stymied his desire to remain with his parent party. Last week, he organised a lunch for nearly 250 of his loyalists. During the lunch diplomacy, he sweet-talked many of his foes over to his side. Perhaps he found refuge in Abraham Lincoln’s quote: “Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?” The event was organised to show that he is a front-runner for the ticket. Earlier, he was brash and not tactful enough to carry his foes along with him. Now, the brashness has been replaced with caution. During his three terms as a legislator from Batala, he brought in several projects, the main one being the Machine Tool Development Centre. For this, he managed funds from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), indeed a tall order for an MLA. His idea of building a Railway Over-Bridge (ROB) on the Dera Baba Nanak road reduced traffic congestion significantly. The Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, too, is his brainchild. He pumped in funds to raise the stature of Hazira Park. He also convinced the Railway officials to start a Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) between his city and Amritsar. Look and see which way the wind blows before you commit yourself. Reason enough why he is building his election campaign on these projects for he knows that these will pay him well when the time comes to roll the dice. After spending three decades with the Congress, the BJP became his next port of call. He announced his arrival in style in the presence of party big-wig Amit Shah, the Union Home Minister. It is a fact that MP Sunny Deol has badly ditched his constituency. When politicians bury their heads in the sand, a la Sunny Deol, ignorance rules the country. Gurdaspur needs a leader who knows the way, shows the way and walks the way as well. Mr Sekhri, riding on his political sagacity, fits the bill, hook, line and sinker.

Snatching to cutting, robbers change modus operandi

Robbers have changed their modus operandi, from snatching chains to cutting them. Instead of getting involved in the time-consuming act of grabbing and pulling off chains, miscreants simply stop gullible women and then proceed to cut their chains, rings and necklaces with cutters, pincers or even pliers. A robber confided that snatching is time-consuming while cutting is not. Officials are at their wits’ end trying to deal with the new situation they have at hand.

(Contributed by Ravi Dhaliwal)

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