As the Punjab Congress gears up for the Assembly elections, it is apparently confronting an unusual challenge in at least two of the city’s five urban constituencies — an abundance of ticket aspirants.
In the prestigious Amritsar North constituency, the party is grappling with competing claims from former BJP Cabinet minister Anil Joshi and ex-Mayor Sunil Dutti, who is also a former Congress MLA. Joshi had quit the BJP during the farmer agitation and later joined the Shiromani Akali Dal. However, he subsequently shifted to the Congress.
A similar situation is emerging in Amritsar East, where multiple Congress leaders are positioning themselves as potential candidates. The constituency was last contested for the Congress by Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu. However, with Sidhu now charting her own political course through a separate political outfit, the Congress unit in the constituency has been left without a clear claimant, triggering a scramble among party leaders.
Former Improvement Trust chairman Dinesh Bassi was among the first to signal his interest. Over the past several months, his growing visibility and political activities in the constituency had fuelled speculation that he was preparing the ground for an electoral contest from Amritsar East.
Former MP and ex-MLA Jasbir Singh Dimpa has emerged as another strong contender. Dimpa recently organised an 11-km protest march against inflation, a programme that was largely confined to areas falling within the Amritsar East Assembly segment, a move political observers view as a clear indication of his electoral intentions.
Dimpa’s political journey dates back to 2002 when he was elected MLA from the erstwhile Beas Assembly constituency. Following delimitation, the constituency was renamed Baba Bakala and reserved for the Scheduled Caste community, prompting Dimpa to shift his political base to Amritsar South.
After losing the Amritsar South contest to former SAD MLA Inderbir Singh Bolaria, who later joined the Congress, Dimpa has been searching for a constituency where he can rebuild his electoral prospects.
Dimpa said the party had promised him this seat and that’s why he was made in-charge in April 2024 while Sidhu’s was still in the Congress.
He said Bassi was facing corruption charges and was also arrested. The case is still going on in the court, he added.
“With Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu no longer in the Congress fold, it was only natural for Dimpa to stake claim to the territory,” remarked a local political analyst.
However, the developments underline a broader challenge before the Congress leadership. While multiple claimants indicate that the party continues to attract leaders with electoral ambitions, selecting one candidate without alienating others, could prove a delicate balancing act for the party.
