Chandigarh: The Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma is locked in a stiff triangular contest with sitting Congress legislator Amit Vij as well as Aam Aadmi Party’s Vibhuti Sharma in the Pathankot assembly seat.
Pathankot, which has its borders with Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir, and Himachal Pradesh, and which is one of the 10 segments of Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat, is considered to be a BJP stronghold with a predominantly Hindu population.
Congress’ Amit Vij had wrested this seat from the saffron party in 2017 after 10 years by defeating Sharma by over 11,000 votes. Actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol is the MP from Gurdaspur parliamentary seat since 2019.
Prior to Sharma, the seat had BJP’s Master Mohan Lal as its legislator who represented this seat in 1985 and 1997. In the past 15 elections, Congress has won this seat seven times and BJP, four times since 1952.
However, Vij is not the only worry for Sharma as AAP has fielded Vibhuti Sharma this time who had hopped over to AAP from Congress. He also headed the Pathankot Improvement Trust and earlier had also been a councillor for three terms in the city.
Another candidate Jyoti Pal has been fielded by Shiromani Akali Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) alliance from here. Even though there does not appear to be much sway of the parties, the SAD has been sending in senior leaders to campaign for its candidate to muster votes.
Sharma says Pathankot has been a stronghold of the saffron party as was evident during last year when unlike other parts of Punjab there was hardly any protest or anti-BJP sentiment against the now-repealed farm laws.
However, the long absence of the MP, Sunny Deol, is an issue that is being used by the rivals against BJP and Sharma not only in this constituency but also in other segments of the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency.
The candidates of all the political majors have, however, been highlighting various works carried out by them during their respective stints.
While Sharma highlights the construction of the district court complex, the government college, and the stadium during his stint as an MLA, Vij highlights his initiatives. Vibhuti also highlights various works carried out by him as a councillor. He also says that the people of Pathankot have seen BJP and Congress and now sought a change.
Vibhuti also highlights what he terms as the failure of Congress and BJP in providing the very basic civic amenities such as a proper sewerage system.
Sharma highlights the issues of unemployment, corruption and drugs in the state and maintains that only the BJP government could address these issues.
Congress’ Vij, however, maintains that only the Congress government would retain power and address all people-friendly initiatives.
Total voters: 1.52 lakh
Male: 79,433
Female: 73,081
