By Agraj Pratap Singh
Ludhiana, April 28, 2019: In the triangular 2019 Lok Sabha polls contest in the industrial town of Ludhiana, the sitting Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu is confident of a second straight win from this Parliamentary constituency.
Ludhiana, famous as the hub of hosiery industry and one of the richest place in Punjab, is witnessing a three-cornered contest among Bittu, SAD - BJP candidate Maheshinder Singh Grewal and sitting MLA from Atam Nagar Assembly constituency of Ludhiana Simarjit Singh Bains of Lok Insaf Party (LIP).
All three have put up big roadshows here in the city on the days of filing their nomination papers mustering overwhelming public response.
However, Bittu, who in 2014 won the seat in the fopur way electoral battle among Congress, AAP, SAD and LIP eyes a comfortable win this time, since Aam Aadmi Party, that last time fielded Phoolka from this seat does not have that prominent face this time as Phoolka had distanced himself from active politics.
The 2014 polls saw Bittu win by a small margin, while there was a close contest between AAP and SAD.
It is no surprise that when the grand old party had to decide upon the ticket, Bittu was clear that if the party wants to field him , he would opt for Ludhiana.
Being an industrial hub and among the cash rich districts in the Northern state , the factors that dominate the area are infrastructure development here over the past five years.
Ludhiana comprises 9 assembly segments namely Ludhiana East, West, North, South, Central, Atam Nagar, Gill Dakha and Jagraon.
As far as the main city is concerned the predominant population in the city is of traders, businessmen, industrialists and people employed with primary and secondary sectors in the economy.
Compared to them the ones engaged in the tertiary sector are less.
Ludhiana is also a district with the highest population of Scheduled castes in the state which is around 26 percent.
The general sentiment in the area is of satisfaction with the present Amarinder Singh government in the state, which makes a comfortable win for Bittu almost a foregone conclusion.
Ravneet Singh is confident of a win.
However, locals feel that Harvinder Singh Phoolka, who was the AAP candidate last time would have given a tough time to others had he been there this time too.
Bittu, who studied at Guru Nanak Public School, and Government College (Sector 11) Chandigarh is an Agriculturist by profession .
He has also served as Adviser to the Chief Minister with Cabinet rank.
Bittu’s rival Maheshinder Singh is a lawyer, also a popular public figure of Ludhiana who graduated from SCD Government College, Ludhiana.
He was elected MLA from Ludhiana West in 1997 as SAD-BJP candidate and became a Cabinet minister under Parkash Singh Badal government.
Total number of electors in this parliamentary constituency are over 15 and a half lakhs with women voters approximately a lakh lesser compared to the men voters.
If we look at the past four year’s’ trends, it is the Congress that has an edge over the other parties.
In 1999, Congress candidate Gurcharan Singh Ghalib had clinched victory but when the grand old party fielded Manish Tewari from the seat. In 2004 he had to face defeat.
However, in 2009 Tewari won from the seat.
In 2014 the party fielded Bittu, who won from this seat after being shifted here from Anandpur Sahib parliamentary constituency.(agency)