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Amarinder's son Vs Badal kin in
Bathinda?
WSN Network
 BATHINDA: Even
as a controversy rages in
Punjab about
whether or not former CM Amarinder Singh has sent his own list of
possible candidates to the party high command or not, speculation is
abounding that his son Raninder Singh will fight the Bathinda Lok
Sabha seat and that is something scaring the Badal family.
Amarinder's
family has long been targetting the home turf of the Badals with
repeated rallies etc in Lambi and around town, and the latest
signals that Raninder plans to fight the Bathinda seat has triggered
speculation that the family members of the Badals are not keen on
the contest anymore.
Earlier, the
grapevine had it that Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal's wife
Harsimrat Kaur Badal was being groomed for the Bathinda seat, but
later senior Akali Dal leaders said there was a possibility of
fielding sitting MLA and Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal from
that seat.
Apparently this
arrangement will suit the Akalis more as that will make the way
clear in
Punjab
for Sukhbir while the nephew gets "adjusted" in
Delhi and gets a
chance to showcase his oratorical skills in Parliament where these
may be better appreciated.
Another
candidate possibly rivaling the claim of Congress' Raninder Singh
could be another kin of the Badals who has been loyal to the
Congress for a long time now: Mahesh Inder Singh Badal, arch rival
of Parkash Singh Badal.
It is however
not known whether the Congress, after a high eye ball controversy
over distribution of tickets to kin of already established
politicians will be in favour of fielding two members from the same
family as Preneet Kaur, wife of Amarinder Singh, is already assumed
to be a natural candidate from Patiala.
Congress is more
hopeful from the Malwa area, and the entrenched Sirsa dera hordes
are also widely expected to back the party even though Akali Dal's
track record of going after the dera or derawad has been extremely
poor.
Seven of the
nine Assembly segments in the Bathinda Lok Sabha constituency are
currently with the Congress.
26 November
2008
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