Dhuri: Will Bhagwant Mann be Able to Dethrone Dalvir Singh Goldy in High-stake Electoral Battle?

Dhuri Assembly Election 2022: Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Punjab president and chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann has challenged Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi to contest against him from Dhuri Vidhan Sabha seat of Punjab.

New Delhi: Dhuri Assembly constituency of Punjab’s Sangrur is hogging the limelight this time as it is all set to witness a tough electoral battle since Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded its chief ministerial candidate Bhagwant Mann from the Vidhan Sabha seat. The comedian-turned-politician has been pitted against sitting MLA Dalvir Singh Goldy (Congress) and the Shiromani Akali Dal’s (SAD)has Parkash Chand Garg.

In 2017, Dalvir Singh Goldy of the Indian National Congress had won Dhuri by defeating his arch-rival and AAP leader Jasvir Singh Jassi Sekhon with a margin of 2811 votes. In the 2012 elections, Congress had defeated the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) by 12,473 votes to win Dhuri. Arvind Khanna, the winning Congress candidate, bagged 51,536 votes.

Decoding Dhuri

Dhuri is one of the assembly constituencies of the Sangrur Parliamentary seat. Mann is a two-time MP from Sangrur. Primarily, Dhuri is a rural segment comprising 74 villages. According to data from the Election Commission of India, Dhuri has 1,38,461 registered voters— comprises 74,094 male and 64,367 female registered voters.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Preneet Kaur of Congress had registered victory from Patiala Lok Sabha (MP) seat with a margin of 162718 votes. Kaur had defeated Surjit Singh Rakhra of SAD.

‘Dhuri Meri Mitti, Dhuri Mera Parivar’

Congress candidate and sitting MLA Goldy is running a poll campaign ‘Dhuri Meri Mitti, Dhuri Mera Parivar’ (Dhuri my land, Dhuri my family) in his constituency and going door-to-door for canvassing. The Congress leader has claimed that he belongs to Dhuri while the AAP and SAD candidates are “outsiders.”

Goldy vs Mann

Pointing Out that AAP’s Bhagwant Mann was never seen in Dhuri except during the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Goldy said that being an MP he could have done something for the people of Dhuri. He dared the AAP’s CM candidate to hold an open debate with him to give an account of any development work which he carried out for the Dhuri constituency. “I challenge him to hold an open debate with me. He should tell his best five development works and I will also share my five best development activities,” Goldy had said.

Sharing detail about several works undertaken by him in his constituency, Goldy in an interview said that volleyball grounds were set up in 57 villages while 32 km-long roads were developed and re-carpeted, fire brigade at the district level, mini fire brigade system at village level were set up and new sewerage system was laid.

Mann Challenges CM to Contest From Dhuri

Ahead of polls, Mann challenged Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi to contest against him from Dhuri. Mann told the media in Amritsar that perhaps Channi did not know that his Chamkaur Sahib assembly seat is a reserve. “Neither I nor our national convener Arvind Kejriwal can contest from there. If Chief Minister Channi has confidence, then he should come to Dhuri and contest against me.”

Opinion Poll Projections

Punjab may be headed for a hung assembly with Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) emerging as the single largest party in the state, predicted Zee News-DesignBoxed Opinion Poll on Thursday. As per the pre-poll survey, AAP and Congress are projected to win 36-39 and 35-38 seats respectively in the state. On the other hand, Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi is preferred by 31 per cent voters as CM in 2022 polls. Interestingly, this number corresponds to the headcount of Dalit population in Punjab.

AAP’s Bhagwant Mann got the support of 24% of participants, while Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu is preferred by only 5 per cent. Arvind Kejriwal is preferred by 11 per cent voters and Sukhbir Singh Badal is the choice of 22 per cent voters.

Punjab Elections: Poll Date And Results

The voting for the 117-members assembly will be held in one phase on February 20, 2022. The counting of the votes will take place on March 10, 2022. The term of the current assembly elected in 2017 will expire in March.

In the 2017 Punjab  Assembly election, Congress had won 77 out of 117 total seats. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) came in second, winning 20 seats and forming the official opposition in Punjab, while  Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance had managed to get 18 seats