Chandigarh, February 29- With the counting day (March 6) drawing near and a close contest looming on the horizon, both the Congress and the SAD are wooing Independents, among them two Congress rebels and one SAD rebel, who are expected to win. Five People’s Party of Punjab candidates are also expected to emerge victorious.
The Congress and the SAD have started approaching the Independents. A few have switched off their mobiles. The Congress has allotted the task of getting in touch with party rebels as well as PPP candidates to a leader who had crossed over to the Congress in the runup to the elections.
For the SAD, former minister and its youth wing president Bikram Majithia is the main player. Sources say Congress rebel Deepinder Dhillon is expected to win from Dera Bassi and Rajneesh Babbi, son of former Speaker Kewal Krishan, from Mukerian. The SAD feels rebel Simarjit Bains will win the Atam Nagar seat.
The five PPP candidates who may win are PPP chief Manpreet Badal from Maur, Didar Singh Bhatti from Fatehgarh Sahib, Ajit Singh Chanduraian from Amargarh, Bhagwant Mann from Lehra and Baldev Mann from Sangrur.
The Congress hopes to get the support of the Bains brothers. While Simarjit is perceived to be a strong candidate, his elder brother Balwinder Bains is said to be in a strong position in Ludhiana South. The Congress feels it will be able to win over its two rebels. While Deepinder Dhillon is aligned with party MP Preneet Kaur, the party hopes to win over Babbi because of his close ties with the Congress. The party believes it will be able to attract PPP winners too.
The SAD youth wing chief, Bikram Majithia, is in touch with Independents. The Akalis are confident of winning back the Bains brothers and have opened channels of communication with them. The party feels it can also bring about a rapprochement with Didar Bhatti. The SAD is in touch with Congress rebels too. Except for Deepinder Dhillon, who is unlikely to flinch due to his close ties with Preneet Kaur, the party is hopeful of attracting other Congress rebels, especially since it had propped up some of them.
Observers feel the group likely to most easily break away is the PPP’s, specially if Manpreet fails to make it either from Maur or Gidderbaha. Manpreet may find it hard to keep his flock together even if he wins from either of the constituencies. All likely PP winners, except for Bhagwant Mann, are being approached.
