In the electorally significant Malwa region, this non-discrete Dhuri assembly segment is abuzz with amplified activity. The yearning for a change appears palpable as one travels across dusty lanes of this essentially rural segment which accounts for just one township and 74 villages.
Local resident Pradeep Kumar talks about how development and jobs have dodged Dhuri for a long time. The narrative that swung between hope and despair for years is now altering. Dhuri, some 150-km from state capital Chandigarh, is now laced with its newfound popularity and ‘high profile’ segment tag.
The AAP has its CM candidate Bhagwant Mann in the poll fray from Dhuri pitted against sitting formidable Congress MLA Dalvir Singh Goldy and others. Mann, a two-term sitting MP, has arguably remained the party’s best bet, even before he was named CM candidate by party supremo and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.
His entry into the poll fray from Dhuri is likely to consolidate the AAP’s footprints in Malwa region which accounts for the majority 69 seats out of 117 in Punjab. It was the Malwa region where the AAP in 2017 won 18 of its 20 seats.
AAP’s augmented performance in Malwa with Mann as its fulcrum is likely to play a crucial role in the formation of the next government. In nearby Isra village in Dhuri, Manpreet Kaur, a teacher by profession, connects with a gathering of villagers while campaigning for her brother Bhagwant Mann.
“You have given a change to all parties and if this is the state of affairs in this area, who else is to be blamed,” she asks, while urging people to vote for a change.
Kejriwal's wife Sunita and daughter Harshita too have joined the bandwagon leaving nothing to chance. The mother-daughter duo promise development of schools and health infrastructure on the Delhi pattern, while asking the electorate to make Mann the next CM.
His nearest rival and sitting Dhuri Congress MLA Dalvir Singh Goldy tags Mann as an outsider. He knows it’s a tough battle. Goldy's victory margin in the last assembly elections against another AAP candidate was just 2,811 votes.
This time he faces Mann as his rival challenger. Dhuri is one segment that has elected Congress, SAD and independent candidates in the past.
Goldy said, “I am confident of my win. I have worked hard for the people who will not choose an outsider,” he said.
The SAD has fielded ex-Sangrur MLA Parkash Chand Garg from Dhuri. Pollsters are predicting AAP to be the single largest party in Punjab.
Dhuri is buoyed by the prospects of some development in the area in case pollsters hit bull’s eye with their prophecies. Being the CM face, Mann is canvassing in the entire state hopeful that Dhuri will give him and change a chance.
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