Singers in poll fray, Faridkot contest to be a musical affair

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, March 31

With Punjabi singer Hans Raj Hans also throwing his hat into the ring in the Faridkot reserved parliamentary constituency as the BJP candidate after AAP’s Karamjit Anmol, a comedian and singer, the poll campaign in this constituency, spread across four districts, is set to be full of entertainment.

Hans has the advantage of 15 years of political experience having joined the SAD in January 2009, jumping to the Congress fold in February 2016, showing more political flexibility after eight months by joining the BJP in December 2016 and becoming a Member of Parliament from North West Delhi on the BJP ticket in the 2019 General Election.

While he has political acumen and is known for singing pop and Sufi numbers, Anmol is a political greenhorn. However, the actor-comedian-singer has the knack of delivering funny dialogues to reach out to the masses.

While the Congress and the SAD are yet to announce their candidates for this seat, voters feel the election campaign is going to be more enjoyable and entertaining this time.

In the 2019 elections, the Congress had fielded Mohammad Sadique and he had won the election. Sadique is also a noted Punjabi folk singer. Despite him being a political greenhorn and an outsider in Faridkot, he was a big crowd-puller due to his popularity as a singer.

Like Sadique, Hans and Anmol are also outsiders, but due their popularity across the state, their rallies are going to a big attraction.

Earlier, Paramjit Kaur Gulshan, another outsider in Faridkot, was able to win the seat in 2009 as the SAD candidate due to the popularity of his father Dhanna Singh Gulshan, who was a renowned “kavishar” (singing religious hymns). Due to his popularity as a kavishar and closeness to the Badal family, he was a Member of Parliament from the Bathinda constituency in 1962 (then a reserved constituency).

Since the delimitation of the Faridkot constituency in 2009 (when it was shifted from the general to the reserved category seat), the parliamentary elections have lost most of their political din here. Before 2009, Sukhbir Badal, Parkash Singh, Jagmeet Singh Brar, Jagdev Singh Khudian, Bhai Shaminder Singh and many other political stalwarts fought elections from this seat, leading to fierce contests.

Cong, SAD yet to name nominees

• While the Congress and the SAD are yet to announce their candidates for this seat, voters feel the campaign is going to be more entertaining this time
• In the 2019 elections, the Congress had fielded Mohammad Sadique and he had won the election. Sadique is also a noted Punjabi folk singer

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