The fight between the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP’s) candidate Kulwant Singh, the wealthiest candidate in this Punjab assembly election, and Congress’ sitting legislator Balbir Singh Sidhu, who is a prominent liquor trader of the region, has made Mohali seat one of the keenly watched contest.
The two are among nine candidates in the fray in Mohali (official name - Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar) constituency who include Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)-combine candidate Parvinder Singh Sohana, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Sanjeev Vashisht and farmers’ outfit Sanyukt Samaj Morcha (SSM) candidate Ravneet Brar.
The state’s wealthiest candidate AAP’s Kulwant Singh, who is a matriculate from the state education board and is a realty baron, was the first mayor of Mohali about five years ago. A businessman-turned-politician, Kulwant Singh has declared his assets worth about Rs 238 crore.
The Congress’ Balbir Singh Sidhu, a sitting MLA, who also declared assets worth Rs 45 crore, is a partner in Unique Wine Company, which controls multiple liquor outlets in the region.
Kulwant Singh is going full throttle campaigning that the city saw noteworthy development during his stint as the Mayor from 2015 to 2020. He maintains that the AAP which has people’s support and is going from strength to strength.
The Congress’ Sidhu highlights various developmental works undertaken during his stint as the legislator past three terms and says that even though he had lost elections in 1997 and 2002, his vote share still kept on increasing and he had defeated Jasjit Singh Bunny, son of tall Akali leader late Capt Kanwaljit Singh in 2007.
The SAD-BSP candidate Parvinder Singh Sohana, a social worker and formerly a councillor, says in his meetings that the SAD-BSP is set to return to power in Punjab if the people’s vehement support to it is any indication.
He lashes out at AAP and says that people of Punjab do not have to learn from AAP leaders from Delhi about Punjab’s issues and their solutions. He alleges that Kulwant Singh who had got the ticket a few days ahead of the election was not a common man but the state’s wealthiest candidate.
The SSM candidate Ravneet Brar, a farmer and social worker who is concentrating more in the rural areas of the constituency comes down heavily on Congress’ Sidhu saying that people were well aware of his stints while the AAP candidate was a business baron and an opportunist.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Sanjeev Vashisht, an industrialist, highlights his vision for better educational standards and avenues. He has also been often accompanied by senior BJP leaders from Haryana including the sports minister and former hockey captain Sandeep Singh in his campaigns.
