Post elevation, Sukhjinder Randhawa’s clout increases in Gurdaspur

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, September 27

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa has emerged as the most influential Congress leader in Gurdaspur, his home district, following the formation of the new dispensation.

He has chalked out elaborate plans to reignite and rejuvenate the party cadre.

“The party’s present indolence and lassitude is a direct fallout of factionalism in the state unit. This is having a cascading effect and consequently the tremors are being felt at the district, block and village levels. I am working hard to bring things back on the track,” he said.

Factionalism to blame for inertia

The party’s present indolence is direct fallout of factionalism in the state unit. This has a cascading effect and tremors are being felt at the district, block and village levels. I am working hard to bring things back on track. —Sukhjinder Randhawa, Dy CM

Following his elevation from an MLA to minister and now to the post of Deputy CM, his clout has increased manifold. The other seniormost party leaders of this area are Rajya Sabha MP Partap Singh Bajwa and Cabinet ministers Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Aruna Chaudhury. “They, too, are powerful in their own way but Randhawa’s recent climb on the political ladder means he clearly enjoys an edge,” said an MLA.

Barely six months after winning the 2017 polls from Dera Baba Nanak by a thin margin, he consolidated his position by notching up an impressive 40,000 vote lead from his seat for Sunil Jakhar in the Gurdaspur parliamentary bypoll. In the 2019 general elections, he again managed a sizable lead of 20,000 votes for Jakhar even as BJP’s Sunny Deol ran riot in five of the seven seats.

His exalted status as Deputy CM now means he will be the cynosure of all eyes when his party prepares itself for the 2022 polls.

A senior SAD leader said his party had identified some seats in Punjab where they intended to put up “exceptionally strong” candidates. “Sukhjinder Randhawa’s home seat is definitely under our lens. Admittedly, he has become a thorn in our flesh,” he maintained.

Randhawa retorted, “What the Akalis say is all fluff and no substance.” Sukhjinder’s father, Santokh Randhawa, too rode like a Colossus on the political firmament. He remained a Cabinet minister twice and was also a two-time PCC chief.

Post elevation, Sukhjinder Randhawa’s clout increases in Gurdaspur
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