Ravi Dhaliwal
Dinanagar, January 29
Congress nominee Aruna Chaudhary was never a politician in the first place. She was more of a painter and home-maker till the pressure exerted by her family to become an MLA became irresistible. In 2002, the daughter-in-law of former Dinanagar legislator Jai Munni successfully tested the political waters for the first time. She went on to do an encore in the 2012 and 2017 elections. She is again in fray from Dinanagar again.
Banking on goodwill
How come MP Sunny Deol is involved when the Rs 40-crore railway overbridge is financed by the Punjab Government? The MP is spreading falsehoods. I build bridges, not walls like my rivals do. Aruna Chaudhary, Congress nominee
With the sun out after a week of gloom, Chaudhary visits Megian village, the home turf of SAD-BSP candidate Kamaljit Chawla. She tells the audience that her rival is a turncoat having changed four parties in five years. She takes a sarcastic swipe at him by claiming “his wife requested me for an anganwadi job which I managed”. “Can you trust a man who changes colours faster than a chameleon?” The lady has indeed developed all traits needed to be a politician and even more.
Back in Dinanagar, she tells residents that Rs 40-crore railway overbridge coming up in the city is her pet project and adds that MP Sunny Deol has nothing to do with it. “How come Deol is involved when the project is financed by the Punjab Government? The MP is spreading falsehoods. I build bridges, not walls like my rivals do,” the Congress nominee says. Minutes later, she demolishes the defenses of her BJP rival Renu Kashyap by saying, “She is a political greenhorn. The less said about her, the better.” She is back to discussing the benefits of the 1-km-long railway bridge. “It will be completed before April 30. A new dawn will usher in the area once the project is inaugurated,” she says.
Interestingly, somebody standing near Chaudhary rings up Kashyap to tell her what “Aruna ma’am thinks of her”. She knows what is happening, but the politician in her tells her to keep quiet. Chaudhary claims development is visible in all 247 villages of her segment. Her supporters remain busy distributing pamphlets, highlighting projects she has ushered in the segment in five years, including getting the sub-divisional status for Dinanagar town.
Campaign Trail: ‘Building bridges, not walls like rivals’
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