In Qadian, a small municipal town in Gurdaspur district that has a population of over 25,000, it’s hard to miss a three-story white haveli. Not because of their clout, but because of the two flags, the Congress and the BJP – representing two different political ideologies – flying above what catches the eye. It is home to a well-known political family: Rajya Sabha MP Pratap Bajwa and his younger brother Fateh Jang Singh Bajwa are in the Majha area, which splits midway just before the Punjab elections.
Both the brothers were part of the Congress party until recently, when the younger Bajwa defected after being denied a ticket from the family stronghold and Pratap was chosen instead. An angry Fateh quit the party and was given a BJP ticket from the adjacent Batala constituency.
Three-time MLA Satnam Singh Bajwa’s sons Pratap and Fateh Jung’s families live under one roof. Senior Bajwa is survived by two children and a wife, while Fateh Jung has three children and a wife. Though both the families are living under one roof, political developments have created tension.
In the 2012 assembly elections, Pratap’s wife Charanjit Kaur Bajwa was given the party ticket despite Fateh Jung’s objections. Enraged, he left Qadian and went straight to Sri Hargobindpur to support Congress candidate Balwinder Laddi. In 2017, Fateh Jung successfully contested from Qadian.
A few months back, with internal turmoil in the Congress, Pratap had publicly declared his intention to contest the assembly elections from Batala to return to state politics. Since Fateh Jung was the sitting MLA from Kadian, Bade Bajwa feared opposition if he claimed for the ticket from there.
But as the infighting in the Congress reached its peak, PCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu announced Fateh Jung’s candidature at a rally in Kahanuwan, part of the Qadian seat. Pratap later declared himself the candidate from Kadian, while the Congress Election Committee was yet to decide. Fateh Jung left the Congress and joined the BJP, causing a crisis in the Bajwa family.
Stuck in the middle are the party workers who were working for the Congress party till now, but now they have to work for the BJP as well.
“It is difficult for us now as a dedicated party worker”, said a Congress party insider, who till now was working for Fateh Jung Bajwa and Congress in Qadian. He said that now Chhote Bajwa hopes that party workers will work for him. in Batala.
Congress workers admit that people living in Qadian want to continue working for the party in the constituency, but since they have been associated with Fateh Jung for a long time, many had to accompany him to Batala for the campaign. A party worker lamented, “By doing this we take out the anger of Pratap Bajwa, who hopes that some workers have been here for years and know door-to-door campaigning and know that people should be around. “
“Pratap has been in Delhi as a Rajya Sabha member after coming back to Kadian, that means he needs trustworthy people around him, but by that time most were already working with Fateh Jung, So now such workers are getting influenced and like to work for AAP. Stay in Kadian,” admitted a Congress party worker.
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