Gidderbaha: It’s battle of prestige for old rivals, chance of emergence for turncoat

The rural area dominant assembly constituency Gidderbaha is set to witness a fierce triangular political battle in the upcoming bypoll as it is a battle of prestige for the old rivals Manpreet Singh Badal and Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, whose wife Amrita Warring is contesting, while it’s a chance of emergence for turncoat Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon.

Gidderbaha bypoll was necessitated after Raja Warring won from Ludhiana Lok Sabha constituency, defeating the BJP’s Ravneet Singh Bittu. Congress has fielded Punjab Congress chief Warring’s wife Amrita Warring in hope to retain the seat, while the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded Dhillon, who switched over from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in August. The five-time MLA and former minister, Manpreet Singh Badal, who had switched over from the Congress in January 2023, is BJP candidate.

Meanwhile, four-times former Gidderbaha MLA Manpreet, who returned to the constituency after 12 years, is seen struggling to gain momentum in the absence of strong cadre of the BJP in rural areas as both Congress Amrita Warring and AAP’s Dimpy Dhillon can be seen gaining significant support in the segment.

Gidderbaha has been a constituency of stalwarts. The Badal family have dominated the Gidderbaha seat in the past decades. Former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal won five consecutive elections from Gidderbaha from 1969 to 1985. Later, Parkash Singh Badal shifted base to Lambi constituency. Badal’s nephew Manpreet contested his first election from Gidderbaha as a bypoll candidate in 1995 and won the seat for SAD. Later, he won three consecutive Vidhan Sabha elections in 1997, 2002 and 2007. In 2010, SAD expelled Manpreet. In 2011, he formed his own party — Punjab People’s Party (PPP) but lost the assembly elections in 2012. Since then, the seat has fallen to Congress as the party’s state president Raja Warring has won from Gidderbaha for three consecutive terms. In 2022, Vidhan Sabha elections, Raja Warring won the election by a slim margin of 1,355 votes from SAD’s Dimpy Dhillon, who is now a candidate of ruling AAP.

Dimpy and Warring were presently rivals in Gidderbaha as the latter has defeated the former in two consecutive elections but the entry of an old rival, Manpreet, has spiced up the battle.

As SAD decided not to contest Punjab bypolls, including Gidderbaha, where party has strong base, the shift of the regional party’s vote bank will be a deciding factor in the bypoll. Both former SAD leaders Manpreet and Dhillon are eyeing the SAD vote bank.

Amrita counts on connect with women, husband’s influence

Congress candidate Amrita Warring has a strong appeal among women, especially elderly. During her poll campaign, after brief greeting, she goes straight to women, hugs them and makes sure to ask about their children’s whereabouts to establish a local connect. Amrita, who is the first female candidate fielded by any mainstream political party in Gidderbaha, never misses to mention this. She counts on her husband’s work and promises to continue it.

“It’s first time in 78 years that a woman is contesting elections from here. I have already been working with you for the past 13 years. If elected, I will become the voice of women in the assembly. AAP has already betrayed women by not giving ₹1,000 per month as they promised, and farmers are still in mandis for paddy procurement. Manpreet has changed five parties and Dimpy two, but we have been loyal to Congress and people of Gidderbaha,” Amrita said while addressing people at Lundewala village.

Dimpy promises to bring funds, asks for a chance

With the slogan, “AAP da MLA, AAP di sarkar”, ruling party candidate Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon is asking people to vote for him with a promise that he will bring funds for Gidderbaha directly from chief minister Bhagwant Mann. Dhillon is asking people to give him a chance claiming that he had never even been elected as a member, but the other two candidates have been ruling since 1995, but did “nothing” for the constituency.

“You have given 13 years to the Congress MLA and before that, 16 years to Manpreet. I only seek two years, and I promise development in my short tenure will outrun their 29 years. If I fail, I promise I will quit politics. Manpreet and Raja Warring remained ministers in governments but failed to bring even a single project to the constituency. We cannot even think about dream projects, there are not even basic facilities in the constituency. My priority will be providing clean drinking water and proper sewerage system,” Dimpy said.

Manpreet talks about old ties, Centre’s welfare schemes

BJP candidate Manpreet Singh Badal last contested from Gidderbaha in 2012. Manpreet while starting his address always mentions the legacy of former CM Parkash Singh Badal and his old ties with the constituency. However, he mostly relies upon the welfare scheme of the central government to woo voters. Meanwhile, he talks more about historic stories and says poetry to give examples in his style.

“I know the problems of Punjab and I have brought solution for it. Today, if the poor have everything, it is because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. If the poor don’t have food, they send grains. Everything is coming from the Centre’s welfare schemes. Some people still say that Modi is not good, but if the people elected him for the third term, there must be something in him. I have come back after many years, but I seek your support to change the condition of Punjab and Gidderbaha with the help of the Modi government,” Manpreet said in Bhalaiana village.