Cong bets on this man to conquer Akali fort

Thursday, 18/04/2019

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AMRITSAR : The Congress has placed its bet on former Beas MLA Jasbir Singh Dimpa, 53, from Khadoor Sahib — the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) bastion. The Akali Dal has not lost the seat even once since 1977 and this time Dimpa is pitted against former Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Bibi Jagir Kaur. Sukhpal Singh Khairaled Punjab Ekta Party (PEP) has fielded the widow of human rights activists late Jaswant Singh Khalra, Bibi Paramjit Kaur (also a Panthic face).

Dimpa, a firebrand leader of the Congress, is a loyalist of Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and enjoys the support of elected representatives of all nine assembly segments which fall under the Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha constituency as Congress had won all the nine seats in the 2017 assembly polls. Dimpa’s native village Lidhar falls in Baba Bakala assembly segment, which is a part of the Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha segment and he has a good rapport in the area. He had also served as the sarpanch at his native village.

Earlier, Dimpa had also served as the general secretary of Indian Youth Congress and was also the president of Punjab unit fo the Congress’s youth wing.

He was elected as an MLA from Beas constituency (now Baba Bakala) for the first time in 2002. Dimpa had defeated SAD candidate Manjinder Singh Kang by a margin of around 6,400 votes. He also fought 2007 assembly polls against Kang from Beas, but failed to defend his seat.

Dimpa, a transporter, had also staked his claim for the party ticket in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, but the Congress fielded Harminder Singh Gill, now MLA from Patti in Tarn Taran district. A Panthic face, Gill lost to SAD’s Ranjit Singh Brahmpura in 2014 by a huge margin of 1,00,569 votes.

During the 2007 assembly polls, Dimpa landed in a controversy as his name figured among the 38 others booked for murder following the death of an Akali supporter in a clash with Congress workers in Beas town. Due to the death of the Akali worker, the election commission had postponed the election in the constituency by 20 days. Dimpa lost the election to SAD candidate Manjinder Singh Kang by around 4,500 votes. In 2014, a local court acquitted Dimpa and the others.

Dimpa said, “I am confident enough to win the seat as I have full support of the nine MLAs who have been actively campaigning for me.”