HOSHIARPUR: Electioneering is yet to pick up in this Lok Sabha constituency which has acquired a VIP status with Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Kanshi Ram contesting from here. He launched his election campaign last week.
Accompanied by senior Akali Dal (Badal) leader and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Gurcharan Singh Tohra, he launched his election campaign in the morning at Ropar from a venue about 3kms from his native village. Ropar town itself is a part of the Hoshiarpur constituency and not Ropar Lok Sabha constituency. Beant Singh Khalsa, an Akali Dal (Badal) candidate from the Ropar parliamentary seat was also present.
This first election meeting of “son of the soil” in his constituency who was projected as the future Prime Minister was thinly attended, He launched his election campaign and virtually handed it over to the Akalis with whom the BSP has entered into seat adjustment, Interestingly, no leader from other Akali factions within Akali Dal (Badal) including Parkash Singh Badal faction and those from the faction represented by former Chief Minister Surjit Singh Bamala was either present at Ropar or at Dasuya, where head dressed the second meeting, Even onetime SGPC president Kabul Singh who belongs to this area was conspicuous by his absence. Ironically, it is Tohra who had been opposing alliance with the BSP. KanshiRam faces he challenge from the sitting ruling party MP Kamal Chaudhary who won in 1989 also. Harkanwal Singh of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Vikram ‘Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 10, 1996
