In cash-rich Ludhiana, candidates focus on drugs, corruption

Chandigarh: Cash rich Ludhiana wears its wealth on its sleeves. It is among Indian cities with the largest number of Mercedes Benz cars. It is also the city which upgrades to the latest cars the fastest. Big bungalows, high end gizmos and the trendiest of clothes – Ludhiana is never shy of flaunting what it has. It is the richest district in Punjab and according to a World Bank study a couple of years ago, one of the best places in the country to business.

The visible wealth, however, does not tell the whole story about the city. Law and order is a big problem in the business capital of Punjab. Crime rate is high and daylight robberies have become frequent. The pollution level is worrisome as is the state of road infrastructure, particularly in interior pockets. The most troubling among the issues here is the drugs menace. While drugs are available almost everywhere in the state, the wealth of this city makes it more accessible to users. The future of the youth is in danger.

Industries of the region have been facing problems with regard to VAT refund. Several times in the past the highly agitated industrialists have crossed swords with the government and this could affect the end result in the poll. The allegedly non-co-operative policy of the state government over the years has resulted in a majority of industries running away to neighbouring Himachal Pradesh which, being a hill state, has been able to give special packages to industrialists.

Candidates contesting the polls here have been raising the issue, but, locals feel, only in a half-hearted fashion. However, these are the issue that will finally weigh the minds of voters when they press the blue button a week later. If the sentiment on the ground is a valid indicator, then the candidate of the ruling SAD-BJP combine might end up facing the brunt of public anger.

Coming to the electoral fight here, the anti-incumbency factor against the ruling party has queered the parliamentary poll pitch in Punjab, making the contest fiercer between the Congress, the SAD-BJP and the AAP in the Ludhiana constituency. A rebel from SAD, contesting as an independent candidate, has made the contest a four-sided affair.

Union Minister Manish Tewari won the Ludhiana seat in 2009, but this time he is out on health grounds. The Congress has given the Ludhiana ticket to the tried and tested youth leader Ravneet Singh Bittu, the sitting MP from Anandpur Sahib.

A graduate in computer applications, Bittu is the grandson of late Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh and had been hand-picked by Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi in the 2009 Lok Sabha poll. He had won the Anandpur Sahib seat, defeating SAD candidate Daljit Singh Cheema. This time, however, things might get difficult for him. He has a new constituency to tackle and there are three other strong candidates in competition. Moreover, the anti-incumbency wave against the SAD-BJP might be offset by the Narendra Modi factor.

Sikhs form the majority in the business town. No wonder major parties have put up Sikh candidates. The SAD-BJP has given ticket to Manpreet Singh Ayali, 39, MLA from Mullanpur Dakha constituency in Ludhiana. Ayali is contesting the Lok Sabha poll for the first time. Earlier a farmer, he also indulged in real-estate and construction business before settling down in politics.

The AAP candidate, social activist Harvinder S Phoolka, is a Supreme Court lawyer who fought cases of 1984 riot victims. A first timer to elections, he has been the legal advisor to Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP has tried to encash on his non-controversial and clean image.

Simarjit Singh Bains, 43, is a Akalai Dal rebel. He had been the district president of Youth Akali Dal and had even been promoted by Deputy Chief Minister and SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal. Bains grew ambitious and demanded the party ticket for 2012 Punjab assembly polls. SAD, however, denied him that. He resigned from the SAD along with brother Balwinder Singh Bains in response.

As rebel SAD candidates, the brothers fought the 2012 assembly elections and won. Later, however, they extended support to the parent party. But later SAD refused to give him ticket for the Ludhiana parliamentary constituency. Simarjit is now contesting the poll as an independent candidate from Ludhiana. The BSP, which has comparatively less influence in the constituency, has given ticket to Navjot Garg.

The top of the agenda in the campaigning of the Congress candidate is the ever increasing drug menace in the constituency. “My priority will be checking drug problem and the alarming level of pollution in the region. I will work towards improving health facilities for the people and get a wing of PGI established in Ludhiana. The immense rise of the vehicles has made the pollution problem acute. I will get the issue addressed to check the pollution problem,” he says.

Traffic, dirt in the Buddha Nullah and sewerage is listed as the main issue of concern by SAD-BJP candidate Manpreet Singh Ayali. “Corruption is a major issue and I will address it. Ludhiana deserves better connectivity and I will work towards it,” says Ayali.

On the other hand AAP candidate H S Phoolka is worried about corruption in every department of government work. “You either need bribery or corruption to get any work done here. I will put an end to such a corrupt system. Ludhiana is one of the highest tax-paying cities, yet its development has been pathetically slow. We cannot allow this to continue. The needs and demands of the industrialists require to be properly addressed,” assures H S Phoolka.

Independent candidate and SAD rebel, Simarjit Singh Bains is wary of the growing drug menace and the corrupt political system. “There is a nexus between the bureaucrats, politicians and those running rackets. These must end for the growth and development of Ludhiana,” says Bains.

Ayali may have the advantage of belonging to the ruling party-SAD-BJP, but the rebel candidate Simarjit Singh Bains is threatening to cut into his vote bank. While Ayali is facing anti-incumbency wave in the state, Bittu is facing the same problem, against the Congress led UPA government at the centre. AAP candidate Harvinder S Phoolka has got good response from the people, but the lack of organisational set up is hurting the party a great deal.