Ludhiana: The industrial hub of Ludhiana is set for a tight three-way battle on April 30, when the constituency goes to polls. While there may be signs of a 'Modi wave' in many parts of the country, Ludhiana seems to be ignoring this wave.
Ludhiana is a complex constituency divided in three parts - the labourers, the service class and the business class. Each of these sections appears to be voting in the different direction making the fight for Ludhiana a nail-biting one.
Manish Tewari, the sitting Congress MP is out of the race due to medical reasons. It is Ravneet Bittu, the sitting MP from Anandpur Sahib and the grandson of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, who is fighting as the Congress candidate. While the mood in the country is anti-Congress, Bittu is the favoured candidate among the large scale industry leaders in the city.
"It definitely is a tight race with no clear winner really. I even see support for Congress within the large scale industries of Ludhiana, especially in the city," said a small scale businessman in Ludhiana, Nikhil Dhand.
However, that's just one part of the constituency. There's huge support for the newcomer Aam Aadmi Party too with anti-Sikh riots lawyer HS Phoolka in the fray. Many feel Phoolka may win because of his strong presence and the lack of other strong options.
"I feel the AAP may win Ludhiana this time. As far as the Congress is concerned, the presence or absence of Tewari doesn't really matter since he hasn't done enough for Ludhiana. With not many strong candidates, Phoolka may win. While we would support Modi, we are also not satisfied with the SAD rule," said Rajat Sharma, a Ludhiana resident. "Being an industrial hub, Ludhiana at present faces many basic problems like infrastructure, power woes and drug peddling," he said.
Phoolka, too, is confident of winning Ludhiana. "From the sense that I'm getting from the people of Ludhiana, I see myself easily winning this election. People here want change, they are fed up of the system, corruption and policy paralysis in Ludhiana," Phoolka said.
While Phoolka seems to be making a strong presence, giving him a tough fight is Independent candidate Simarjit Singh Bains. What works in favour of Bains is that he is a local MLA and has interacted with the people of Ludhiana. He, thus, has a strong connect with the small scale industries and the labour class in Ludhiana.
"Bains is a strong candidate and I even see him winning this time. He is available for the people of Ludhiana at any given time," said a Ludhiana resident Varun Dua.
There is also an anti-Akali Dal wave in Ludhiana even as people are pro-Modi. That leaves some Ludhiana voters confused as to whether they should vote for the Akali Dal or not as the party is in alliance with the BJP. SAD MLA Manpreet Singh Ayali is the Lok Sabha candidate from Ludhiana.
"We want promises made by the candidates to be fulfilled. We have seen SAD's performance and it has been a disaster. However, we do support Modi. But this leaves us confused. If BJP had a candidate here, we would have been less confused about who to vote for," said Avtar Narula, a teacher in Ludhiana.
Interestingly, Ludhiana seems to be voting for a new entrant or an Independent this time. The decision of who the clear winner is will be taken by the Ludhiana voters on Wednesday.
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