Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service
Gurdaspur, October 22
Sitting Batala MLA Lakhbir Singh Lodhinangal finally had his way when the SAD shifted him to the neighbouring seat of Fatehgarh Churian, while Majha SAD (youth wing) chief Ravi Karan Kahlon, who was reportedly eyeing the seat, has been forced to contest from Dera Baba Nanak.
Harsimrat faces farmers’ anger
Moga: SAD leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Friday faced the ire of farmers when she came at Langeana village in Moga to hold a party workers’ meeting on Friday. The Kirti Kisan Union they would boycott the political parties which would hold poll meetings defying their request.
Akalis announce 3 more candidates
Chandigarh: The SAD has announced three more candidates for the Assembly polls. Batala MLA Lakhbir Singh Lodhinangal, will contest from Fatehgarh Churian and Ravi Karan Singh Kahlon from Dera Baba Nanak. From Malerkotla, Yunus Mohammad will be the candidate.
Ravi is the son of ex-Speaker and four-time Fatehgarh Churian MLA Nirmal Singh Kahlon.
In 2012 and 2017, Lodhinangal had expressed a desire to contest from Fatehgarh Churian. However, on both occasions the party virtually forced him to fight from Batala as “it could not afford to overlook the experience and expertise of an old warhorse like Nirmal Singh”.
The factors that go in Lodhinangal’s favour are that after delimitation, a majority of villages falling in his old Assembly seat of Qadian got shifted to Fatehgarh Churian. His ancestral house is located just a km from Fatehgarh Churian town.
“He wields considerable influence here. He knows all village heads by name even if they owe allegiance to other parties. Survey reports and field reports collected from grassroots level workers finally tilted the balance in Lodhinangal’s favour,” said a former SAD minister.
Ravi Kahlon knows his opponent will be Deputy CM and Congress strongman Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa. “This is the reason why as early as last year he had asked his supporters to fan out in the area. His father had given a lot of jobs to the youth when he was the Chairman of Punjab State Subordinate Services Selection Board and later as a Cabinet Minister. This will be the fulcrum around which Ravi’s campaign will revolve,” said an MLA.
Batala MLA has his way, gets SAD ticket from F’garh Churian
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