One family, one ticket: Punjab minister Tript Bajwa questions Congress formula

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[google-translator]

Amid widespread revolt in the Congress over ticket allotment for the Punjab assembly elections, cabinet minister and Fatehgarh Churian MLA Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa on Tuesday questioned the party high command’s “one family, one ticket” formula.

Already announced as the party candidate from Fatehgarh Churian, Bajwa organised a show of strength at his residence in Qadian to stake his family’s claim to the ticket from Batala, a largely urban segment in Gurdaspur district from where the Congress is yet to field a candidate.

“Congress rank and file want me or my son to contest elections from Batala. I would like to request the high command to have a rethink, considering their sentiments. We want the Congress to form the government in Punjab again, for which the high command should take the decision according to the ground reality,” said Bajwa, while interacting with the media on the occasion.

Questioning the Congress formula, the cabinet minister said: “Not allotting two tickets to a family is not the verdict of the Supreme Court. This is the thinking of the high command. Forming government in Punjab is necessary, not applying such formulas.”

Giving examples of MPs Chaudhari Santokh Singh and Dr Amar Singh, Bajwa said that their sons have been given the tickets for assembly polls. “Even this implies giving two tickets to a family. In fact, Santokh Singh’s family has been given three tickets, as his brother has also been fielded from Kartarpur. Then why are we being given such treatment?” he said.

On his present candidature, Bajwa said there was no question of leaving Fatehgarh Churian. “If the party gives us tickets on both seats, we will win both. This is demand of the segment, and I have conveyed it to the party high command,” he said, while remaining silent on his supporters’ suggestion to field him or his son as an Independent from Batala.

The cabinet minister has been eying the Batala seat for long. He has ensured execution of several development projects in the assembly segment and has been taking part in its local politics. He got his loyalists appointed on key posts, including mayor, Improvement Trust chairman and market committee chairman, and even in the bureaucracy.

Amid his active participation and presence in Batala, its former three-time MLA Ashwani Sekhri, who is a strong contender for the party ticket, has been upped the ante. Recently, even Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu backed Sekhri’s claim.


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